Somewhere in Neverland
by FrankandJoe3
Summary: Dick, Jason and Tim are three brothers with boring lives until a redhead flies up to their window and offers them an adventure they can't refuse. Birdflash, Peter Pan AU
1. Prologue

The phrase 'tragically beautiful' isn't used often due to its lack of appropriateness in most situations, but the first case it can actually apply to that springs to mind would be the innocence of a child. The beauty is easily seen in the way those eyes, so wide and unmarred, will sparkle as the curiosity draws them out from under the covers and to the knock on the window halfway across the nursery with a tiny cock of the head and a small anticipating smile before they climb up onto the ledge and throw back the lock. The tragic part comes in the excited giggle as the pixie dust runs their length and floats them from the hardwood, entwining their fingers with the stranger's own and fearlessly flying out to the second star on the right, straight on 'til morning.

Then one day, years later after living an adventure every day with the nicest of kids on the coolest set of land their eyes had ever glanced upon, a yearning for home dips over their subconscious and they ask to return with the sincerest of apologies and thanks. The tragedy drags on though, after a morning of gliding through the chilly night sky only to find that the nursery window was closed and locked. There was no going home, no putting their arms back around the loving parents who had waited, and definitely no more beauty. There was just a lost child and a land that never was supposed to exist to house the wayward until it could no more.

But restlessness drives those with wings from their nests and drives stories all over northern New England about the flying redheaded boy with the star beside him, usually only told by the tragically beautiful children who stayed up until morning in hoping that curiosity would bring them to the knock on their window. The last taken child, noted at least, was a ten year old Wally West with a heart set on staying a kid forever, but that was nearly a decade ago as the parents would remind their waiting children, oblivious to the redheaded boy with the star at his side listening in from outside of the window with a heavy heart.

"One day, Megan," a Garfield Logan reported having heard outside his window after his parents had bid him a bedbug biteless sleep and kissed his forehead, "I'll have someone to tell _me_ that."

His parents reported him having leapt from bed, throwing open the window and hollering, "Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" to a boy they had only just seen the surprised little smile on before he had disappeared, his star chiming after him.

Other parents reported having seen a small redhead on their window sill with a sad expression etched deep into his seemingly new features, his palm pressed to the glass in longing. And then, just like that, he had disappeared, almost as if he had flown off.

"He's... I'm not saying I believe I saw him out there... But I am saying that if I did, his story is... so tragically beautiful. I almost wish he had stayed so I could've let him in and help him find his parents, if they live still," a Clark Kent admitted.

The lost child never did though; stay that is. The longest he had couldn't have been longer than a minute, according to a Barbara Gordon who claimed he had said, "[He] wasn't lost. [He's] just winning a long game of hide-and-seek against people who weren't aware they were supposed to be looking in the first place."

And he kept hiding, years of stories passing on until they distorted and twisted into fun fairytales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, up until May 5th, the day the Wayne Manor lost three out of its five heirs with nothing but an open window and a golden glitter like substance inside the carpet fibers left for evidence.


	2. Chapter 1

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair," a kneeling ebony with a skunk stripe smirked up at his sulking brother bound in a frilly pink dress three times too big, "The Captain'll surely be here to take you away any second!"

Tim pulled his legs up onto the dresser with him, folding his arms over his chest with a frustrated huff.

"If I have to play the princess, we're playing by my rules. I don't just let this hair down for anybody. I expect a movie and a fancy dinner first, mister!" he stroked the piece of rope serving as his braid for emphasis, adjusting the headband that held it in place. "And where's my ring? If you want this, you gotta treat it right!"

The prince desperately sighed, eventually taking to violently shaking the dresser, earning terrified screams from the trapped princess aboard.

"Damn princesses thinking they're so high in mighty because they have nice hair... You're going to DIE! What part of that sentence comes off as an excuse to sit up there and be a bitch?!" he tensed at the correcting little cough, hesitating, "Uh... I mean... hark. Art thou. Now give me your hair so I can get up there."

The princess didn't seem too eager, but noticing the encouraging motion from the unspoken character, he tossed the rope down to Jason and tied the top to the curtain rod firmly. As the prince started to climb, a figure emerged from the shadows, tilting his pirate hat up with a plastic hook and a sly grin, wooden sword drawn in his clenched fist.

"And it was then, the prince halfway up the maiden's lengthy braid that Hook stepped out from the forestry, wrist aching near as much as his heart. Never again would he lose a princess who would so easily supply him with that happiness the prince could find off of any female there in the neighboring villages. He figured it about time he got that candle lit dinner for two and the infamous rush of butterflies his wife had once supplied him. She was gone though, just as the prince would soon be."

Dick smirked as he stepped forward, slowly swinging his wooden sword for the transportation method of choice, making a fake groan of effort as Jason straddled the rope and wielded his sword in defense against the attack with a small chuckle.

"Not on your life, Hook," Jason snarled, securing his legs and that one hand to the 'braid' while the other parried the attacks of the infamous Captain.

"It won't be my life it's on, Charming," he returned, making a low swing that sent the prince to the floor, holding his leg in a forced agony, "Now, Princess, how's 'bout a kiss?"

The oldest of them puckered his lips up in the direction of the cowering beauty, chuckling warmly as the braid was pulled up in a rush, grabbing the base of the rope before it could disappear from his reach.

"I want nothing to do with your cooties, Hook!" Tim spat, still firmly trying to pull his 'hair' from the pirate's grip, "I want a prince with a castle, not a pirate with a stuffy little ship!"

"Though the princess knew it to be helpless, she attempted to regain her hair, fretting all the while for her precious prince who lay in ruin at the base of her tower," Dick narrorated, nudging Jason with his foot to draw a fake cry of pain and a muffled snicker, "But Hook refused to see the truth. There had to be a happy ending for him, surely! It was the prince who was the bad guy, attempting to kidnap the woman into a life of childbirth and misery. Hook was sure he was the hero, positive he had so much more to offer than the pitiful form at his boots."

He released the braid, sending the princess flying back into the wall with a cry of surprise, turning on heel and looking out into what he imagined to be the sunset, gesturing to its beauty with a broad sweep of his hand and a secretive grin.

"Though the ship may be little, it offers miles more than what Charming here can present in just the first minute. I offer you _adventure_, princess! You'll awake each morning to wonder and excitement, to new people, to exotic lands! Can your precious prince offer that?"

Jason slowly grabbed for his sword, thinking he was being discrete before Hook put his boot flat to its length and held it there. The ebony wasn't discerned though, even more encouraged from the size of his pained grin.

"No, but I can offer security, love... and...," he paused with a sniff, cringing as if there was a retched odor coming from the biggest pirate, "A bath every once in a while."

Dick smelt his shoulder curiously before shrugging, holding his sword tip to the underneath of the skunk-stripen prince's chin until he had to lift it up to keep from being impaled. He eased the younger boy to his bare feet, keeping his chin tilted upwards and smirking at the glare he was given.

"The captain knew his lack of chance even before prodding the prince to his feet, but he knew hope was his last bet and he pressed it down into a wet... stringy... and deflated pulp," he was circling his brother, sword still in place bringing those thin slit eyes after him, "And so he glanced up to the princess, offering her the exact look the prince had given her moments ago, his grin soft."

Tim blinked down at his brothers, clutching his hair delicately to his chest, indecision hard over his features.

"Hook, I demand you unhand me," the prince growled from the base of his throat, "Or I'll twist you up into a lengthy extension for my fair maiden."

Hook just chuckled maniacally almost, flipping his blade up, catching the flat of it and jabbing the prince to topple him again, having failed to notice the unprotected sword within his attacker's reach.

"Please, princess... help a man ease out of his misery," he held his arms up towards her, a charming smile to his lips.

"I can take care of that..." surprised blue eyes lowered, just in time to see the sword clutched in a pale fist 'plunge through' his chest.

Dick dramatically fell to his knees with a choked rasping passing his lips, turning his gaze up to the princess with a forced look of pain to the cover of his features.

"And it was then, choking on the blood pooling in his throat, that the captain looked up to the love he'd never have, tears hard against their brims and he breathed her name, the wonderful Rapunzel forever trapped no longer. She was freed from her prison, as he was from his now at the crushing of the world on his shoulders. The dizziness toppled him with a laugh and he rasped out his final breath."

The notorious antagonist of the story collapsed to the ground, a wobbly smile over his lips.

"Yo... ho... h... oh..." Dick shut his eyes and let his head loll off to the side, the hat sliding from his lengthy dark locks, "And the captain sank with his ship, a smile to those cynical lips until the deep blue swallowed him whole."

The beautiful princess descended from her tower, instead kneeling beside her hero and receiving a celebration kiss that was just a disgusting lick up the left side of his face earning a disgusted grunt of disapproval before they all burst out laughing, helping each other up and recalling parts they had nearly lost it at, finishing by sniggering at Tim's get-up, drawing frustrated blushes swift to his cheeks.

"Shut up, guys," he whined, pulling out the headband and beginning to mess with the tie around his waist. "You've embarrassed me enough in front of the new boy."


	3. Chapter 2

That stopped the laughter in a quick breath.

"New boy?" the eldest two ebonies repeated slowly, exchanging suspicious glances before following Tim's gaze back to the window.

It was just a flicker in front of the glass doors that vented air into the stuffy room they were to share until the west wing was rebuilt from fire damage, a brownish-red and a dash of green, but it was enough to nearly rocket Dick to the white sill, his hands preventing him from cart-wheeling to the trimmed lawn three stories below. The wide eyes matching tint with the evening sky around desperately searched as far as his neck could crane, surveying everything from the grounds to what of the building he could see.

"Hello?!" he called, a sudden wind drowning his voice away and sweeping the pirate's hat from the black locks. "No!"

He desperately dove for it, knees grazing the edge of the window sharply with his pale fingers outstretched, but a quick grab from Jason pulled him back in and potentially saved his life. The gaze helplessly watched the plastic hat drift up from sight, a small shudder hitting his shoulders before he squeezed his eyes shut with a tensed jaw.

"Bruce will return home shortly. We should get ready for bed," Dick slid the fake hook into the bedside chest with a faltering frown, "Tim, return the dress to Barbara."

"Dick, stop being such a pussy. It was just a hat. Wayne's got enough dough to build us a house of REAL pirate hats. We have enough time for you to tell us Snow White," Jason accusingly folded his arms over his chest, but the commanding glare passed a sigh along his lips and he began to unlayer, stuffing the costumes into the nearby chest while a half-naked Tim aimed for the door.

The oldest of them clicked his tongue in distaste and gestured for a night robe that lay on the bed with his name stenciled to the headboard. The smallest boy groaned before throwing it on, poking out his tongue with an angry mutter before he trudged out of the room with Barbara's dress in hand.

"Not enough time for Snow White. Maybe Cinderella, though," was Dick's way of apologizing to the undressing skunk stripe across from him, quickly following suit. "But that's only if you take your medicine."

Jason hissed, turning up his nose with a scowl at even the thought.

"The name's appropriate, heathen," he narrowed his eyes accusingly. "Why not ask me to pierce my septum or something up there with a rusty nail? I might actually do that one."

The navy eyes rolled in annoyance as green pants slid up over the deep cut hips, a button up shirt sliding over his shoulders.

"You won't pierce your ears and you know it, Jay. No man with such oddities will earn wages in future days."

"I don't give a rat's ass about wages, circus freak. What happened to _that_ kid? He knew how to live!"

"His parents were murdered. That takes a toll on anyone."

"One _he_ doesn't have to pay. You told me Zucco's someone's prison bitch now, right? That's a payment every night in that cell of his."

"Stop kidding around about that! We all... we all have to grow up eventually."

"Eventually. We're still kids. We have a good five years left until we have to care about that stuff, but you know Wayne'll back us up even beyond his gold plated gravestone."

"We're not his kids, Todd, or do you forget that?! Damian's the only blood he has!"

"But family isn't defined as blood."

"Since when did you care about families?!"

"Since I got one I liked. You, me, Timmy, Babs, Dami? That's family. My family, your family- OUR family."

Dick was silenced, staring down at the ground before crossing it and sliding into his bed, the sheets pulled just below his shoulders. His eyes searched the ceiling for the answers he didn't hold within his own grasp but all he was offered was white.

"So... about that Cinderella story," Jason hinted, standing at the foot of his bed with a hopeful expression.

Dick eyed the medicine atop the dormant fireplace's mantel, the medium glass downed with a yelp of disgust before Jason was nestled in his bed, holding his pillow in his lap and toying with the edges. Tim waddled in moments later and followed their actions, nestling himself into his own bed after forcing the disgusting bile as Barbara addressed it down his throat.

"Just Cinderella," Dick made clear, starting after the two eager nods.

He didn't stop there. The Princess and the Frog, Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and half a Hansel and Greta did he finally silence, victoriously smiling at the snoring frames tucked sound into the beds across from him. The smile hesitated at the last medicine cup, meaning Bruce was late again, but Dick wasn't surprised. It was as regular as waking up to the sun in the morning. A small shake of his head burrowed him down under the covers, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and attempting to leave his thoughts for the night so he could join his brothers.

"Then what happens?" a soft voice sat Dick up in bed, his eyes flashing to the boy straddling the window sill with a pirate hat to his red hair. "Do they get eaten? Do they kill the old hag?"

Dick threw back the covers and hopped from the mattress, carefully walking to the boy in the window bound in rags and tattered clothes. Navy eyes met emerald and held them until both grinned in unison.

"Uh… The witch feels the bone and gets ticked that the kid's still tiny so she walks in and unlocks the cage door. The sister hits her over the head and together, they cram her in next to the potatoes before igniting her. They eat the house, steal her riches and bring them back to the father. He leaves the step mom," the ebony pushed a hand back through his messy locks sheepishly, his nose scrunching up as he noticed the sky of freckles spilt over the pale cheeks.

The redhead grinned ear-to-ear, bringing up his fists and swaying in place with a quiet laugh.

"I love happy endings... Oh! Speaking of happy endings..." he pulled the hat from his head and offered it to the boy staring in wonder at him. "If it's yours, it's nice to finally meet you, 'Prop of Flying Graysons'. I'm Wally."

The name the poorly dressed boy tossed out so casually drew the ebony back a step with a pained wince, bringing his hands up and letting the left rub the right's wrist as if it were aching. His swallow was slow and hard, like actually attempting to count the licks to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop, but it was nowhere near as stone as the averted gaze before the hat was graciously taken from the outstretched hand.

"My name is Richard," he coughed quietly, putting the hat on for a breath with a happy distance in his expression before the nostalgia swept him back to his feet.

Wally scrunched up his nose at it, folding his arms firmly over his chest.

"That's a grown-up name," he decided, matter-o-factly, "I like Prop a lot more."

The oldest of his brothers, Dick was accustomed to comments like this, so he stayed calm as he slipped the pirate's hat back into the chest at the foot of the bed. Once away, he hurried to return, rubbing at his neck.

"At school, some of the boys call me Dick. I suppose you could to, if you want that is."

The boy in the window seemed to ponder this, gazing out at the stars for guidance almost before he bobbed his head in agreement with a cheeky grin.

"Dick it is," he agreed, hopping to his bare feet and moving closer.

A comfort zone was breached, a pale rounded nose brushing his own sharper one before he could even blink, but neither tensed as each set of wide eyes searched the other's careful gaze. Only after he felt satisfied did the redhead take a step back, his face sobering.

"Honest eyes. Wounded, but honest. I like you already, Dick. Can we be friends?" Wally turned his head, curious hopeful eyes blinking softly.

Dick wasn't quite sure what to say. The boy was a mere stranger, not to mention the impossible feat in which he had somehow managed to climb the stories of the manor to his window.

"I... I guess. Sure. We can be friends," he incredulously laughed at the words to leave his lips, gasping as the ragged pale hands grasped at his shoulders suddenly and those wide emerald eyes filled with excitement.

"Fantastic! Now you can help me put my shadow back on!"

Before the ebony could question, the redhead was across the room, looking around desperately in shelves and obvious crannies.

"E-excuse me?" Dick was dumbfounded, rooted to the spot with the most bewildered of an expression he had known.

A ball of light shot across the room from the ajar window pane, widening the 'honestly wounded' eyes and staggering him forward a step at the frantic chime of bells to radiate from the ball's center. The strange boy darting around grunted in annoyance once the music stopped.

"He's my friend, Megan. Why _wouldn't_ he help me?"

The drawers to the dresser Tim had been trapped on with nothing but his luscious hair only moments ago were now being thrown open and vigorously searched through as a chorus of bells unfurled from the light that now circled Wally's head like a violent halo.

"Fine then, ask him yourself!" he glowered at the light before turning back to the drawers. "I need my shadow!"

Dick nearly cried out as the light flew right at his face, instead stepping back and falling onto the bed with crossed eyes as he attempted to study the creature in his face. As it aggressively crescendo sang its anger out in a resonation like strung metal pieces out in the breeze, he overlooked its small features, astounded to find a small woman within bearing a near golden tint of wings with a dark red flush of hair pulled back into a ponytail and a dress of green showing her figure well.

"It... it's a little person!" he grinned ecstatically in wonder, reaching a hand up to grasp the light.

He winced at a sharp sudden pain to flash through his cheek, rubbing it sorely. Wally seemed to catch this, bearing his teeth.

"Megan! He doesn't know any better! That is NOT an excuse to bite him," he scolded, now peering inside the fireplace and feeling around within.

The twinkling she gave off coincided well with his tone, making the ebony think perhaps she had just mocked him. It made him laugh softly.

"What exactly is she, Wally?" he kept his hands down this time, almost detecting a smirk on the creature's lips. He poked out his tongue at her for good measure.

The redhead poked his head out of the fireplace, cheeks stained with soot before curiously taking a sip of the remaining medicine bottle, doubling over dramatically at the taste, hacking it out again before raising his emerald gaze with a secretive grin.

"She's a faerie," he huskily whispered, like it was a secret.

That only carried out the story teller's laugh.

"Don't be silly! There's no such thing as fa-," he started to say before a hand quickly clamped over his grin and he was knocked down to the mattress by a straddling form.

Wally's eyes were swollen in a bout of fear and anger, keeping his hand firm, the other a lazy fist beside the slightly abnormal sized ears.

"Never say that! Don't you know the harm?" at the confused shake of the head under his hold, he continued, "Every time someone doesn't believe, a faerie dies!

The golden faerie was quick to make a mocking sound, earning a strong glare from thin emerald slits, moving Dick's own gaze to her.

"Shut up. He'll have to believe now that he's seen you, so stop that. I could get a new faerie like THAT. Virgil would easily join me, not to mention little Bart."

That silenced her swiftly and darted her off to the window sill to sulk before the redhead climbed from the ebony's waist, helping him back to his bare feet.

"Sorry about that. Want to gimme a hand in finding this thing?" he offered with a comfy little shrug, looking about the dark room carefully.

Dick rubbed his cheek again, certain it was red from the faerie's little attack, before he copied the shrug.

"I suppose. I've never had to look for a shadow before..." his fingers moved down to gently rub his elbow, cheeks flushed a thick pink from embarrassment, "How did you lose it in the first place?"

Just to be certain, the ebony side-stepped into the moonlight and checked the floor at his feet, hiding a grin of relief as he recognized the black silhouette cast out against the floorboards. Wally noticed the boy's gaze and seemed to fly (had to be the late hour and the blur of his peripheral vision, no one could fly) over beside him, probing him to move over a little.

A gasp of fear cut his lips as the figure on the floor hesitated to echo him. The redhead on the other hand gave an odd rooster-like holler of excitement before diving against the floor and picking up the shadow like it was a piece of cloth. Jason murmured in his sleep, Tim turned over, Wally giggled happily and Dick had to cling to the window pane to keep from collapsing.

"You lose them when you outrace them and they get cross with you," he grinned cheekily over to the jello-legged boy, "And it doesn't help that he seems to like you. Can you help me get him back on?"

Dick blinked slowly, stepping closer and grabbing cautiously for the shadow, wincing as it lashed out and struck him. Where it hit, a thin red line quickly formed.

"Bad!" Wally struck the shadow back and it seemed to whimper, "You don't hit my friends!"

Dick took a step back, watching it dance in the pale grip before a small idea crossed his mind, urging him to kneel by his chest, starting to rummage shoulder deep.

"How is it possible to be faster than your shadow?" the wood of the box consumed the majority of his volume and projected it muffled, but the boy on his feet understood it enough.

"You should ditch the whole possible/impossible idea. That just makes everything boring. We should be able to do whatever, without any dumb rules holding us back," the redhead seemed to preach, earning a tinge of admiration from the kneeling boy.

"Parents set the rules to keep us safe, though," Dick's fingers closed around a small box near the bottom. "How did you get out here without them scolding?"

He straightened up and put the box on the quilt cover to the bed, urging the other boy to sit beside him. Wally instead kicked back, sprawling out over the mattress with a happy whimper of the comfort the bed offered.

"You need to ditch the how deal, too. How's are always sad. The why's are where it's at," he put his arms behind his head, still clutching tight to his troublesome shadow, "And my why is because you tell good stories."

Dick blushed happily, procuring a dull needle and black thread from his box, shyly grinning down at the boy's calloused and dirty feet.

"I-I... thanks," he laughed quietly before turning to lie on his stomach, studying the dirty soles of the feet before his eyes, "I think I'm just going to sew your shadow on. Will you... uh... lay on it, I guess?"

There wasn't even a heartbeat of hesitation before the redhead had the shadow pinned, struggling just a little.

"Work fast, doc. We've got us a fighter," he cackled, squirming atop the wriggling shadow.

Dick still hesitated, threading the needle carefully.

"But it's going to hurt," he warned, more worried than his 'patient' was.

Seeing the emerald eyes roll gave him an idea and he raised the needle fast, stabbing the edge of the shadow and stitching the feet to the bottom of Wally's pant's cuffs, his tongue parting his smile as he worked with a natural coffee hand.

"A little deformed, but it should do the trick," he admired his work and moved back, hopefully watching as the freckled face sobered and the boy jumped to his feet, grinning as the darkness obediently cast itself on the lit wall.

The needle dropped quick to the floor as Wally leapt forward and hugged him tightly before running to the window sill, standing on its edge and repeating a louder version of the rooster-like call, his shadow sulking on the floor beneath him. The volume increase bugged Dick's eyes.

"Not so loud!" he hushed the redhead, "Bruce doesn't approve of us being up after lights out."

The face he made showed that Wally was beyond tempted to do it again, a little louder, but the name made him hesitate.

"Bruce? He your dad?" he curiously probed, hopping down onto the sulking shadow, making it violently convulse in pain.

Dick shook his head slowly as he knelt on the floor to scramble for the needle, finding it only after it pierced his palm. He lifted it with what remained of his nails (always short for acrobats, so there wouldn't be any catching on the bar) and tucked it back in the box before paying the question some attention.

"Bruce is my guardian until I turn 18 or a next of kin surfaces," he seemed to quote a law book, securing the box at the bottom of the chest beneath a seemingly blood stained green cloth.

"Then what happened to that last of kin?" Wally flexed and snickered as the shadow cast him out unrealistically bulging arms.

"That's a what, and most what's are more sad than a how."

That sulked the bulging arms and a pang of empathy coursed over the freckles before a light bulb seemed to erupt over the pale features and Wally took a step closer. Dick looked up in time to catch the hesitance and found himself fearing the worst, but the bare feet stayed anchored and a sheepish grin instead unfolded over the chapped lips.

"Then no more what's! How about a where?" he put an arm around the ebony's shoulders and led him over to the window, raising a finger to point at the brightest star in the sky, "You see that big star out there? Look to the right of it. That small one? Follow it on 'til morning and you're in the best where to exist. Pirates, mermaids, faeries- you name it. Everything up to a good story teller."

Dick grinned as he got the suggestion, ducking out from under the warm arm.

"Even if I believed you, how—er, is there a way we can get there? That's space," he couldn't tear his eyes from the small star now.

It seemed so insignificant at first, but now that he stared at it rather than just scanned the spacious night time air, he found his mind opening like a sun roof and he began to grasp it was more than just a light against the dark sky. In school, he seemed to recall it having been a distant sun, but it was Wally's' expression that turned that starlight to his features.

"Though I'm just one small person, I can offer miles more than what growing up can give you. I promise you adventure, Prop! You'll awake each morning to wonder and excitement, new people, new lands! Can being a grown up offer that?" a mischievous accent crept out over his face and the parallel hit the acrobat like a train.

In his head, he suddenly envisioned Wally with the captain's hat atop his head again, the gleaming curve of a hook protruding from a stump in his wrist where the story books depicted a vicious crocodile had chomped the original off, on the ground clutching the stab wound to his heart, desperately pleading for his last chance. It was silly to imagine himself the princess, but he had long found Hook his favorite character of any story to cross his mind, carrying the pirate to nearly every story he told. This was his chance to find a story worth telling.


	4. Chapter 3

"Well then, morning won't wait on us! Just explain our way of travel and I'll leave a note," he eagerly teetered on his toes.

The willingness stopped the older of them, his lips cautiously parting as he looked over the storyteller. The excitement in his face outshone any star he had ever hopelessly chased. It was beautiful; he found a part of him thinking near the depths of his mind, reflecting the thoughts in an admiring awe.

"Close your eyes," the redhead murmured with a secretive smirk, bugging those pretty blue eyes before they obliged.

A thick blush crept anticipatingly over the pale cheeks and the small smile grew and shrunk in indecision, feeling a swarm of faeries taking flight in his stomach. He didn't know what to expect really; he had never been kissed before. He suspected that was what the rag-clothed boy had the intention to do at least and he welcomed the idea for the moment. Maybe this was a reason those ladies showed so much skin by the dollar store. A kiss sounded nice.

Instead though, a foreign kind of tingle that started as the sharpest winter breath only to trickle delicately to a perfect summer afternoon cracked over his crown and messily spilt down to his toes in thick drips. It was all internal, giving him the momentary thought that a part of his brain had burst for even considering an action like kissing the same gender. The consequence couldn't differ much from that based on how Bruce protested.

"What's this?" he had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep from peeking, squirming a little.

Wally laughed at how the tan nose bunched up at the tip, lightly poking it, giving a sharp gasp as the ebony hovered up from the floor slowly. Though the ginger was in full awe, the story teller was still completely oblivious. Before opening his lips, he curiously stepped forward on hunch and lightly put a hand to the sleeve of the button up shirt. As he thought, the arm shot up from his reach.

"I'll tell you, but first- what's making you so happy right now?" he joined the boy in the air with the tiniest of a vibration that gave off a noticeable hum.

Dick paused, cocking his head to the side in Wally's direction.

"I'm not. Just listening to you," he opened his eyes impatiently, nearly failing to muffle a cry of surprise. "H-holy!"

There were five feet from him and the hardwood. He was a literal Flying Grayson right now. That thought stung once it sunk in, but he was beyond it. He was flying! The grin to tear his face open helped dance the auburn across the room with a snarky grin of his own.

"That's our 'way of travel', Dick. We're going to FLY," he died happy at the excitement that stuffed itself under the thirteen year old's cheeks so they'd have a scarlet outward appearance. "Go put on something comfy, alright?"

Encouragement wasn't required, but instructions were, especially with how the boy connected to his dresser in the next second. Wally snickered, gliding over and stopping a drawer from falling onto the adorable creature.

"Will we be doing this a lot? I kinda suck at flying," he rubbed his neck before getting into his drawers and pulling out his 'play clothes', worn but still lacking a hole.

As he unbuttoned his jacket, he squirmed to find the ginger curiously watching from beside him, taking no discretion in his stare. The ebony covered his chest with both arms, blushing strongly.

"Do you mind?" he puffed out his cheeks.

Wally shook his head and continued the curious stare.

"Would you look the other way?" he stressed, voice strained to the point not even a molecule of pulp was left, eyebrows knotted deeply.

The ginger stiffened, eyes widening as if a wound now marred his flesh with the freckles, but he turned his back and waited until he heard a rustling of clothes. He casually peeked over his shoulder, snickering at the boy's tan line, sure to right his head again once the boy started to show a sign of raising his gaze.

"Why can't I look?" he peeked back again, raising a hand to muffle a shy giggle, "Are you mad at me or some'in?"

Dick bit his lip firmly, unrolling the sleeves down to his wrists and fiddling with the new button set.

"It's crude!" he was quick to say, eyebrow raising boldly at the laugh, "What's so funny?"

Wally couldn't stand not looking at his friend, and he didn't understand what crude meant, so he turned with a smirk and a pale blush.

"You've got a lady's bum," he whispered with a chuckle after noticing the boy with snow in his hair twitch.

The ebony choked on air and he stiffened like a board, turning quickly to hide the feature with the pants he swiftly slid up over his hips. His face soon matched tint with the other boy's hair.

"W-what?!" he stuttered out, eyes wide like a deer in headlights.

"He's saying you've got a nice ass," came a groan from Jason's bed, the pillow reversing and clutching desperately at his ears in an attempt to muffle their sounds, "If you're gonna leave on a big gay adventure, get going. I'm exhausted."

Dick shot a foot in the air, hovering near the dresser top with both hands struggling to shield the scarlet stain smothering his face.

"Shut up, Jason," he painfully whined, all heat parading to his face.

Wally walked close and raised an arm to pull the boy back down to the wood of the floor, genuine confusion interlaced hard over the nooks and crannies his face had to offer. Capturing the thin wrists in a warm grasp, he encouraged the navy eyes towards his emerald set.

"Dick... what's.. What does he mean? Gay adventure?" he sheepishly grinned at the look he was given, "I-I'm serious! And why's your face all red?"

Dick couldn't stop him in time before Jason was sitting straight up in bed with the cockiest of smirks.

"P-please don't, Jay," the oldest of the 'brothers' pleaded, but it fell on uncaring ears and only broadened the smirk.

"No, no, Grayson," the new name raised Wally's eyebrow and released his grasp as the boy with the skunk stripe crawled out of bed and walked up to them, "I've got this one."

Jason grinned cheekily, stepping out with the flat of his palms obviously intending to shove his brother back, but he never got to lay a hand on the older boy. Rather, a pale fist grabbed his wrist hard enough to make him genuinely cry out in pain, two emerald eyes glaring hard daggers into his skull.

"Didn't you hear him? He said don't. Learn to listen, brat," he growled darkly, watching the eyes swarm with fear before the cocky kid staggered back.

Once he had backed off, Wally smiled sweetly and turned back to his new friend, silently begging to know the definition of the kind of adventures this knucklehead that cowered back against his bed thought he and Prop were to be doing.

"It's a... he thinks… he thinks we'll… act like mommies and daddies do during the nighttime," was the explanation he received, drawing out a small smile to his lips.

"Sounds like fun! We might have to partake," he innocently suggested, utterly confused at the obnoxious laughter to part the returning smirk.

Dick used the effect Wally had transferred instead of kissing him, the 'flying' per say, to cut the room's air and sharply smacked the skunk striped boy with a pillow to the jaw. The resulting sound stirred little Tim from his bed with a discontent murmur of complaint, one fist weakly rubbing at his eyes.

"Mm..?" he looked around weakly, settling on his flying brother with a small smile.

It didn't appear to faze him at all, to see the unnatural occurrence, instead seeming to put him at ease.

"You mus' be my fairy godmother," the boy deducted exhaustedly, turning over as he lay back down. "You're late."

Wally blinked at the term.

"He's a faerie? A bit big, wouldn't you say?" he scratched his head in innocent confusion.

Dick groaned internally, rubbing the back of his neck with a small grimace, watching the floor with a thick blush to his cheeks.

"Tim, Jason... Go back to bed guys. You need to stay to tell Bruce I'll be gone a bit," he begged before awkwardly grabbing the freckled boy's forearm to urge him towards the window.

It hadn't taken the ebony long to realize it was happy thoughts that lifted his feet from the hardwood, so a few thoughts of a sleeping and silent Damian later he was level with the window sill. His foot had only just made contact that a protestant whine broke the other two's lips.

"I'll go tell Alfred," Tim threatened, his arms folded stubbornly over his chest with a slight pout pressing out on his lips.

Navy eyes fearlessly rolled back at the threat with a mocking glance that questioned whether or not they thought the threat would scare him before his second foot joined the first and he found himself a breath from freedom. This time though, it was Wally's hand that held him back.

"We could always use a few more. The boys back home have been asking a while for some newbies," he grinned softly, releasing his hand and glancing back to the boys.

They were about the right age... and he didn't want to rob another innocent kid of a family that loved them right. He may have had to suffer for a while, but nobody else had to. No more pain. Just faith, trust and pixie dust.

"I..." Dick began to argue, but the expression he noted on his new friend's face was enough to change his pace, dropping him down to the floor, "Alright. Get dressed Todd, Drake."

Wally blinked at the secondary use of names, turning to the pouting ebony beside him for an answer.

"You told me to call you Dick... but the boy with snow hair called you Grayson. And you called them Jay and Tim before. Why the changes?" he rubbed his head as he cocked of, confused as to why he had earned that shy of a smile in response.

He almost seemed afraid as his friend laughed at him, biting his lip lightly and demanding to be let in on the joke. Upon seeing how serious he was, the laughter subsided and an ounce of depression sank in to the gentle features.

"They're called last names... they uh, help with identification... Like, my name is Richard, but together my parents were Graysons, in the same way Jason's were called Todd and Tim's are Drakes," he explained, his gaze seeming to brush the uneasy from the freckles without trouble, "Don't you have one?"

The redhead stared back into the navy eyes without emotion until they averted, and even then he held it on a second's notice until a piece of the sky better caught his gaze.

"Maybe once," he admitted with a shrug, losing himself in the night sky. "It's been a while."

To his surprise, he felt a hand gentle to his shoulders, turning to look into one of the most understanding and least judgmental smiles he had ever seen.

"If anyone understands what you're going through it's definitely us. Welcome to the Misfit Manor," Dick empathized, pulling back before he felt it'd be weird. "None of us had much family, 'cept little Timmy over there, when Bruce offered us a home. Maybe... well, like you said, we could always use a few more..."

Jason walked between them without warning, looking up into Wally's face with a deep scowl before Dick urged him back, Tim wobbling up beside them. The redhead looked down at them in admiration, before reaching into his tunic and drawing out a handful of a gold-like powder.

"Looks quite a bit like a family to me," he smiled before blowing the glittering powder out over them.

Tim and Jason both cried out as the substance stabbed at their eyes, but Dick held his smirk with his closed eyes, hovering up into the air beside Wally with a giggle.

"Happy thoughts!" he grinned down at them as he opened his eyes.

He glanced over as he heard the one-named boy snicker at him, his breath catching as a pale hand captured his face, the thumb gently sliding some built up pixie dust from his cheek. The ebony almost hit his head on the ceiling rafters.

"Happy thoughts," Wally repeated with a laugh, part of his mind piecing that affection made the boy happy.

"Yeah, _Gay_son. Happy," Jason sniggered as he floated up off the ground, gasping happily as he and the hardwood parted ways.

Tim on the other hand just happily giggled as he took to the air, twisting as he ascended with a laugh, catching on the fastest of everyone. Dick saw, and inspired, triple-saulted over the dresser without an ounce of effort bearing a grin that could illuminate theatres. Jason's feat was trying to seem unimpressed, the best act of them all.

"Looks like you've all got the hang of it! Follow me now," Wally leapt from the open window sill, three of the Wayne children tagging behind him off into the New England air with giggles trailing behind them like tails.

Only seconds from their departure, the door to the room the brothers had shared was pushed open and a tall figure stood in the doorway, the tie on his tuxedo only just loosened. His black hair was slicked down, his cheekbones illuminated in the dim moonlight.

"Any of you still up..?" he whispered, gasping as he found the beds empty.

He ran into the room, withholding any previous attempt to be quiet, throwing back their covers in an erratic manner, eyes swollen.

"N... no... I did it right this time..." he hovered, gaze set on the open window.

Golden glitter lined the shelf, providing him cause to lean over it frantically out across the yard. One among them was an acrobat. There was always a chance this was just another one of their stories. A small chiming noise changed his mind though, looking up and gasping as he saw a girl in inches surrounded by a ball of light blowing a farewell kiss. Then Bruce was alone in the moonlight with a tremble parting his figure.


	5. Chapter 4

Though Wally was the only one among them who knew the way to their destination, it was Jason and Tim that led the small group over the building tops like shooting stars, both shrieking with joyous laughter as they pushed off on rooftops and satellite dishes to gain air for the desired trick they had the mind to attempt. It was mainly flips and twists that their bodies contorted to fit, but their delight was enough to bring an honest grin to their older brother's lips.

"Thank you…" Dick laughed quietly, doing his best to keep pace with his friend, managing to capture the crescent of the moon in his gaze when Wally met it.

An auburn eyebrow curiously rose, the head attached cocking to the side like an innocent puppy failing to comprehend why it wasn't being played with.

"For what?"

The ebony reached out and grabbed the idle hand with a glance that said a million words all at once, turning the emerald eyes front again with a little chuckle.

"It's an honor, Dick. The boys'll love to meet the storyteller in person. You'll love 'em! Sweetest group of kids ever, when they aren't trying to kill each other…" passion filled his words and he continued on, bragging about 'the boys', but the acrobat only caught every fifth or sixth word.

He couldn't think straight with the excitement racing his brain, the returning hold over his palm not exactly assisting him as a hawk cut the air a good ten feet below them. The laughter that left his lips seemed to light his friend's face up even more to the point Wally and his dearest Prop led the group towards that one small star that only they seemed to notice.

This time, Jason didn't have a comment to the entwined hands, his hair whipped back by the gentle summer-time wind that massaged his head like the most caressing of fingers, causing him to forget the concept of a frown. What was it to be unhappy? He couldn't tell you now as he looked over to Tim and the two grabbed excitedly at each other like two friends in line for a midnight showing of something they both were ecstatic over.

How long they flew no one there could tell, just murmuring a now nostalgic, "Straight on 'til morning" under their breaths with a small grin, but none of them would ever forget their first sighting of Neverland.

Even miles off, they could feel the wonder overwhelm them to the point Dick found tears welling in his eyes and amazed laughter parting his grin. The luscious green of the island was nothing compared to the sparkling waves and waters that encircled it like a thick ring, even the sun seeming brighter over it with rays seeming to consist of pure gold. It looked the place of perfect dreams, something even words failed quite to capture.

What the Wayne-adoptees failed to miss was the brilliantly sized ship banked off the east shore of the island, its black mass completed with a sail emblazoned with a grinning clown face that one wouldn't miss for miles off had it not been for the trees blocking the view.

On board stood a man with a bleached face, hair fried deep from the roots as they arched out in palm-fronds of green hair, a wide smile painted over his lips in pain. A captain's hat crowned his head, the shadow casting a darker kind of gaze to his eyes. His lips were always lifted in a wired grin, his eyes swollen to showcase that insanity he would always clutch against his heart with a brilliant passion.

"Oh, Mister Jay!"

His first mate rushed to his side, her skirt blossoming out from her hips like a dark umbrella, her tights held up by thin suspenders that always traced one's gaze up her figure. She had a rather large chest in considering, the frills woven in adding a bit of a softer accent to the dress. Blonde curls were tied up in firm pigtails up from her eyes, a matching painted smile over her grin.

The man happily chuckled, moving his hand from the wheel and putting it to her waist, setting his forehead to hers and watching her with an overpowering sort of cocky sense to his gaze, but she couldn't care less, kissing his nose before he pulled back.

"Yes, Harley?" he beckoned out what it was she had, his gaze reminding her that he didn't particularly enjoy that name she had branded him with.

The blonde pouted innocently, the toe of her boot rubbing against the wood of the floor before her illusion broke and she giggled.

"I'm sorry, 'Hook'," she bit the side of her lip, fanning her beating heart, "Ooh, I love the taste of that! My big, ole nasty Captain Hook!"

She ran her gloved hand over his shoulder, reveling in the laugh to part his grin, a sparkle illuminating her gaze and probing him to raise an eyebrow.

"What news have you for me?" he inquired suspiciously, running the side of his hand against her jawline, drawing a shiver along her spine.

"O-Only the best… Captain…" her eyes opened with an excited sort of hunger, "Wally West—he returns."


	6. Chapter 5

It seemed to be an endless cycle among them- throw a punch, laugh and then throw out a meaningless splash of trash talk - but they didn't seem even the slightest sick of it with the delight in their eyes echoing the trail their favorite faerie left behind her as she approached quick.

"Megan!" the only dark-skinned boy among them called out at recognizing her golden streak across the tree's far cast shade, easily tossing the boy fighting him aside as he dashed to meet her.

"Wait up, Kaldur!" a boy with tall standing bangs and auburn hair shouted after him, narrowly missing a punch aimed for his neck with a laugh.

The ebony who had tried his hand at pinning the lead boy among them joined in with begging the blonde to slow if even a step. The hoard of roughhousers seemed to lack an end as they peeled out from the tree lines, no two looking entirely alike until the thick woven crescent around the faerie ceased its movement. Only then did they all blend together, grins and sparkling gazes protruding farthest from their dirt-smudged faces.

"Miss me that much?" the red-haired faerie giggled teasingly, the chimes easily translating in the boys' ears.

They all enthusiastically nodded, shouting out questions and stories to share, but they all quieted when the tallest dark boy parted his grin.

"But of course! You're our friend!" he grinned, easily rushing a roar of agreement to flood the air around them, "But where is Wally with our stories?"

"I want know if Hook got Rapunzel!" the auburn enthusiastically added from behind him.

"Of course he didn't. The bad guy never wins, Roy," Kaldur's combatant from earlier chastised with an annoyed roll of his eyes, "How dumb are you?"

The auburn stepped close, nose-to-nose with the ebony and sharing his scowl to an exact point, hands drawn in fists.

"Smarter than you've ever dreamt of being, Conner," he snarled, eyes tight slits.

"Yeah? Say that when your head is halfway through the Elk trees," Roy was suddenly hefted up into the air, feet dangling a good foot from the grass below.

The bare toes swung frantically, attempting to land a kick to escape the hold, but it was a quick nip from Megan that helped the auburn to the ground as the ebony drew back his hand and 'shook off' the pain. Though when their gazes met again, both quietly snickered.

"Dork."

"Prick."

And like that, the dispute was settled and all were grinning as if nothing had happened in the first place. Satisfied that they'd all stay quiet a bit longer, Megan went on to explain with a secretive smirk.

"Yes, but with him, he has brought back a vicious creature... a Flying Grayson!" she added emphasis to push the point that this thing was a real monster.

"What's he look like? I'll snap his neck," Jaime grinned excitedly, a sun kissed tone to his broad shoulders.

"I'll ring it for you," a pale arm was thrown over his shoulder only to be tossed back off with a small laugh on the golden eyed ringer's part.

The faerie glowed at the enthusiasm she received, rubbing her hands together excitedly before she fought to remember.

"It's a sneaky monster... looks just like a human to fool us, but I know its kind. It has hair darker than Conner's, skin like moonlight and a green sort of t-shirt that's as clean as it comes," she described, fighting to remember whether it truly was Dick that wore green rather than one of the other two alongside him.

A murmur crossed down through the crowd, swift exchanges and rushed arguments branching until the whole mass of them believed this creature to fare worse than Hook himself, all with disapproving shakes to their heads. The faerie couldn't beam any brighter.


	7. Chapter 6

The youngest ebonies gave a cry of protest as they face-planted into the older boys ahead of them bearing entwined fingers, both backing up and struggling to stay afloat as they rubbed their sore noses.

"What's the big idea?" Jason demanded to know, losing the anger on his tone as the emerald eyes glanced back at him.

The ginger turned around, gently pulling his hand from Dick's gentle grip which in turn rotated him too, his thin arms crossing his chest while Wally's fisted at his sides.

"I have to go check on something," Wally's tone sobered, gaze side cast to a breathtaking cove on the corner of the island.

Everyone's eyes followed where their leader had turned to, but they only seemed to get half the picture from the confusion to their faces. Wally offered them a smile to die for, then a quiet laugh.

"Just gotta check it," he rephrased calmly now, holding his grin before pointing to a clearing on the island that stuck out like a sore thumb. "Just head on there. The Lost Boys should greet you when you show up."

Before he flew off, something seemed to occur to the ginger and he smiled, procuring a small spyglass from his waist. He handed it to Dick, ensuring that the nimble fingers closed around it before backing off.

"Show them this. It's proof you're with me. See you in a minute," and then Wally was just a trail of evaporating golden glitter, a blink in the distance.

Three sets of eyes watched him fly off with the smallest of smiles until Jason turned his head in and broke the illusion.

"It ain't morning yet, ladies. Let's go," he quickly took charge, and his brothers weren't quick to argue.

Like comet triplets, they cut the sky with tails more brilliant than anything any stargazer had ever witnessed. Unlike comets though, they had a chirp to their flight that trilled with laughter all along their journey until they drew near the clearing, grinning at the swarm of faces they found awaiting them.

"We got a fan club, Grayson," Jason nudged the tallest ebony to lead them upon noticing the stick like things in their hands.

A cautious navy gaze overlooked the crowd, eyebrows knotting as he slowly began descending with his brothers following him easily.

"I don't think they're fans," he murmured, drawing closer nevertheless.

Tim was the most oblivious of them all, still taken aback by the wonder the island showcased without effort, a small smile playing over his pink lips.

"Why wouldn't they be? Wally wouldn't send us hated," he tried to assure them, tugging on their sleeves so they'd glance back and see the happiness he had to offer.

All they got in return was a war cry that turned them back fast enough to see an arrow shooting their way, the fear quickly dropping them out of the way with unison cries of surprise.

"Woah! We're not bad!" Dick held up the spyglass, eyes terrifyingly wide.

Upon spotting the dash of gold in the grasp of the supposed 'Flying Grayson' as the worried boys below were worriedly chanting, something that alone had fixed the blue eyed babe in place, the crowd seemed to grow enraged.

"It got Wally!" one with blonde hair yelled out fearfully.

A roar of anger swept the crowd again, louder this time, before a grounded auburn readjusted the sight on his make-shift bow, aiming and swiftly releasing it. Dick could do nothing more than stare in horror, the name they had called him already acting like an arrow through his heart, lips sadly parted. By the time Jason noticed that his brother wasn't going to move, he could only pull the older boy far enough that the shaft pierced through his shoulder rather than his chest.

The cry that split his lips was what tore the acrobat back to reality, as well as what marked the start of his swift fall to the earth, or rather the near starving crowd awaiting him below with murderous intent written tightly over their features. The blood seeped dangerously from the wound, drifting upwards thanks to the pull gravity had on him, seeping onto his sleeves and even easing onto the chest of his shirt, as if his heart had exploded without a warning.

There had been a warning though, one he had been able to comprehend because the initial heartache had him fixed like the trees all around the clearing. Maybe those trees were the other wounded kids that had fallen at the hands of these rugged looking boys? How long they must've bitterly sobbed to bear such brilliant canopies as they did now… and the roots dug so deep into the earth… maybe they had tried clawing back from the nightmares they had been plagued with, only for nostalgia to kick them back?

They were just trees, he discovered, as he crashed face-first into the higher bark of one, whimpering as the rough pattern tore a bit of his skin away and leaving nothing but a scarlet marker from where he had hit. That was the last cut to his strings, launching him into a quick moving Jason's arms, but the save was short-lived as the arrow's tip pressed into the ground below and shifted in the older boy's shoulder.

"A-Ah!" Dick choked out a scream, tears of pain welling underneath his navy irises and only growing steadier as Jason desperately tried to remove the arrow.

The attacker and the boys behind him moved closer, curiosity and surprise knitted deep amongst the dirt in their features as they came to realize—_hey_, this is a kid! There was nothing monster-like about him; the complete opposite actually.

"D… don't just stand there, bastards!" Jason bellowed, eyes narrowed tightly at them with a jaw clenched tight. "Help me get the arrow out!"

Eyes of blue, green, brown, hazel, black, gray and all of the colors in-between grew in size, exchanging similar glances of confusion at the lack of attack the Flying Grayson dished out, the tears stopping them in their places.

"B… but Megan said…" Conner whispered slowly.

"I don't give a flying _damn_about what Megan said! My brother was just _shot_ because you dumbasses are trigger happy! Now, for the love of _God_, someone get over here and get this arrow out of him or I'm personally shoving one up _each_ of your asses!" the skunk-striped boy roared furiously, his growl quickly dropping the bow and the arrows from Roy's regularly steady fingers and brought him to his knees beside the wounded acrobat.

His blue eyes glanced down to the tool he so deeply valued, his beautiful arrows painted a vibrant red, the regret dusted over his cheeks.

"I was under the impression your… brother… held the intention to hurt us. I was only defending my friends and I. F… forgive us," he seemed to struggle in his attempt to apologize before he gripped the back of his arrow and snapped off the so-called 'feathers'.

The tear tore a scream from the crying boy's lips, the fear and anger intermingling tight in his eyes as he watched the stranger through a wary gaze, gasping sharply as the rest of the arrow was swiftly pulled from his body. It stung almost more than having it enter in the first place, obvious from the whine he made, clutching at the gaping hole. His sleeve was being torn off before he could argue, the blood now just having easier access to escaping. He was already feeling dizzy, grabbing for Jason's hand as a white-haired boy parted the crowd.

"Cameron?" the auburn kneeling at Dick's side addressed the boy, confused at his approach.

The boy didn't respond to the acknowledgement, instead kneeling on the other side of the ebony, raising a blue-tinted hand and placing it to the back entrance the arrow had left. At first, everyone stared, but in a second the acrobat arched up at the effect his touch left, squirming to turn around and see what the sharply peaked cold on his back was. As he did, Cameron placed his hand to the front entrance only for the same reaction, backing up as frost began to form over the wounds.

"W-What the-?!" the wounded kid cried out in fear as the entrances to the cut were sealed off with what looked and felt like a sheet of ice, easily transparent but irremovable. "What did you do?"

The white haired boy snickered, shoving his hands into what must've served as pockets on his outfit, walking back towards the crowd.

"A simple thanks would've been nice," he shook his head before he became another face in the crescent around the trembling wounded body.

Dick had no appreciation to offer out though as the throb in his shoulder refused to cease, instead the blood clotting against the ice until he had a scarlet sheet against the tan of his skin and pure fear working deep into his features. His arm was going to explode as far as he was concerned, only working his discrete grip on Jason's hand tighter than it needed to be, enough to make his brother pull back with a shake of his hand.

Tim shakily crawled up beside his brother, sitting beside him and quietly resting his head on his chest, refusing to make eye-contact with the wound.

"Are we going home now?" he shakily asked, the fear in his eyes running straight through his core, enough for the oldest among them to shakily stand to his feet, holding at his arm.

He let his eyes scan out over the crowd, looking into their dirt-ridden faces with a small frown, now wondering if the trees' roots had actually broken out and become the rugged kids that surrounded him. They seemed so lost, so afraid, but the part that averted his eyes angrily to the grass was how lonely they all came off to be.

"I think I'd rather find Wally first," he decided, bringing out a smile to his youngest brother's face, the bare toes already having lifted from the grass.

Jason was quick to join Tim in the air, but Dick struggled to find the thoughts that would raise him high enough to fly with the constant throbbing of his shoulder knocking each smile from his lips. Then it was the frustration that kept him grounded, furrowing his features furiously before the hope on his expression drained out and he helplessly stared up at his brothers.

"C'mon, circus freak," Jason folded his arms over his chest, expectantly rolling his eyes, "You're always whining about how much you missed 'flying'. Here's your chance. Use it or lose it."

He didn't get a choice though, mostly because of the figure atop the trees that he met gazes with, causing him to fall back hesitantly. All gazes followed up his own, everyone gasping with a small grin at first as they recognized Wally's form outlined against the start of the morning sun with his hands planted tightly to his hips. As he drew closer, the grins faded to fear as they saw the anger pressed tightly amidst the freckles and the accusation of the glare his eyes pressed out.

Wally dare not say a word though, knowing the power of his silence, as he touched his feet down to the grass and calmly walked to Dick's side, one hand touching a good few inches from the stop of the bloodstain. The emerald orbs traced it up to the ice covered entry point, recognizing the jagged edges to the hole in his friend's shoulder, rubbing his thumb up and catching some blood on his thumb before looking up into his friend's eyes.

"Who?" was the first decibel to part the tightly pressed frown as he stepped back from the acrobat, following his gaze to Roy who in second was hoisted up against a tree with Wally's clean hand.

The auburn's eyes grew wide in a mixture of terror and remorse, his lips parting and closing like a saloon's swing doors, eventually setting closed as he realized there wasn't a word that could be said to defend itself. He'd rather die silent in glory than screaming like a coward.

"I know you saw the spyglass because I saw it in the grass, and you still dared to shoot my friend from the sky when he obviously did no harm. Why would you do that?" the ginger had no intent of letting the cowardice go unseen though, his bloody hand trembling tightly.

Roy averted his eyes shamefully before he glanced around, attempting to find Megan's glow amongst the dirt, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Wally, we did not know," Kaldur stepped forward cautiously, still keeping a distance with slightly widened eyes, "Megan warned us you brought a monster and we feared only our safety."

That alone dropped Roy back to the grass and turned Wally to the dark-skinned boy, the choice of words obviously having caught his attention.

"_Megan_ told you?" he repeated, eyes wide with an offended sort of disbelief, stepping closer to show he intended to have an answer _soon_.

The blonde quickly bobbed his head, the swarm of boys around him copying the action, only to tighten their leader's jaw.

"I see."

Wally quickly lifted himself to the canopy of the trees in his forest, looking around for her glimmer before he knew he could no longer wait.

"**Megan**!" he bellowed, his voice carrying on the winds to the point the whole island would hear him, quickly drawing a ball of light before him.

What he said to her, no one on the ground could hear, but the twinkling sound she made in response was the most heart-breaking kind of twinkle any of them had heard before and then she was gone.

"What did you say to her?" Conner quietly asked as Wally descended back to stand among them, eyebrows furrowed.

Though he avoided the question, everyone noticed the lack of blood to his finger now and the instead golden gleam it seemed to hold. They all had a feeling they wouldn't be seeing much of the faerie from here out, but they knew it had to be for the best. Wally knew best, after all. That was why when he straightened up, the boys all followed suit.

"Dick, Jason, Tim; I'd like you to meet my Lost Boys," he grinned, introducing each one by name fast enough that the three Wayne household dwellers gave up on trying to remember after the fifth one. "And Lost Boys, these are my new friends. The one you shot—Dick—he's the story teller I've been bringing you the tales from."

Almost instantly, the wounded boy was crowded with excited laughter, grins and questions full of admiration, returning a grin to both he and Wally's faces. The ebony _insisted_ that no hard feeling were held, much to Jason's disappoint from the grumble he tried to hide, before Wally broke up the interaction.

"Now, I'm going to go properly treat Dick's shoulder," he put an arm around the acrobat's waist, "And while I'm gone, I expect you to show Tim and Jason a good time. Take them back to the house, show them the waters… You know what to do."

An abrupt "Aye, aye, Captain!" broke the crowd's temporary silence, quickly followed by the same rooster-like call that Dick had tried to shush Wally over from earlier that made him laugh quietly with delight, Tim and Jason's laughter a bit more rude in manner.

"They're one of us," Roy saluted with a small smile, beckoning the two ebonies to join them before the crowd impatiently enveloped them, reworking the introductions with a quick excitement, laughter running through the mass.


	8. Chapter 7

Wally grinned happily, glancing to Dick with that heart-warming grin that helped the acrobat's toes lift from the ground before the ginger helped assist him in the act with only a wave of his farewell acting as warning. Then, like that, he had the ebony's good arm around his shoulders and they were gliding along the top of the island with gasps and giggles of wonder splitting the younger of the two's grins.

"What do you call this place?!" the navy eyes sparkled again, like they housed their own pixie dust supply, his hand gently fastening over the one on his hip.

The ginger lightly dipped them back towards the trees with a quiet laugh, watching the sparkle in those beautiful eyes grow wider and wider with each passing moment as the greens and blues of the world they began to enter crossed the acrobat's vision.

"I call it Neverland," he murmured softly, staving off some of that pixie dust to hold in his own gentle gaze.

The trees never quite seemed to end if only but to show a patch of impossible looking flowers with contorted petals bearing the brightest of colors, gentle waterfalls breaking out over soft looking rocks and small balls of light weaving amongst the cattails with quiet twinkling as the two flew overhead; the peace of the land was near overwhelming. It was certainly enough to leave Dick breathless, or at least until the trees parted and the two were absorbed by a cavernous opening housing a wrecked ship that the ginger set them down on the railing of.

At first, it looked flimsy enough to crumble at a breath, but it held the two of them tightly above the dark waves of the water that beat on the rocks suspending the ship. The weathering to cross the bow was a sight to see, the cracks breaking into the wood almost seeming to look like they were meant to be there, beautiful flowers peeking up from each crack despite the lack of sun the cove seemed to get with the exception of the beautiful sunrise visible at the mouth of the cave to the east that made the waves _glow_.

"W… wow…" Dick struggled on a simple word, his head resting lightly on the ginger's chest without his complete notice, the world around him managing to dull out all other senses, "But weren't… you supposed to be… treating me… or something…?"

His eyes were too busy staring in wonder at the mystics the cave offered out to notice the glance Wally gave him, something that was more breathtaking than anything else his gaze had crossed so far.

"But I am," he argued quietly with a laugh, letting his eyes wander out against the waves too, his other arm curling around the ebony's chest.

That extra touch, raised the navy eyes to his own, the muscular frame he held close tensing as it seemed to come to terms with the position, a thick blush crossing his cheeks.

"What do you mean?" Dick was almost afraid to ask.

Wally laughed at the question, the innocence of the boy enough to melt his heart, his head shaking lightly as he glanced out over the waves.

"It starts with a how… You're a story teller, I know, but this one doesn't have a real beginning. It starts with me in Neverland and the window to my old house being locked too tight for me to ever go home again. Being lonely… you know what that's like, right? How… _bad_… it feels? So I uh… I brought friends… so many faces… but it never really stopped. You're different though. I like you more, for some reason. You make my stomach a lot happier than they do, and I don't feel so alone."

Dick averted his eyes with a small laugh of disbelief, "After one day?"

The redhead entwined their fingers softly, a secretive sort of smiling unfurling over his lips.

"One day for you… I've brought home dozens of your stories… And sometimes, I'd wait a day just to hear it again because I liked how you told it. I feel like you and me… we… we're…"

The acrobat held his breath, excitedly with a nervous smile, unable to take his eyes from the shy smile.

"Best friends, you know?"

The smile lost its edge and the navy eyes averted themselves, but he found himself nodding anyway, mostly because he listened to himself and how crazy it all sounded even though he was the one living it out. He liked Wally, he did, but it _had_ to be just friend-wise. He was thirteen. What could he _possibly_ know about the other kind of like?

"Yeah," he grinned, lifting his head from the ginger's chest, weakly swinging his feet out through the dead space, remembering how he used to relate affection to family.

That had to explain the butterflies. He hadn't had family in a while now; maybe that was what it had felt like back then? That had to be it. His eyes raised in surprise as Wally's fingers parted from his and he found the auburn floating from the railing down near the water.

"Where are you going?" Dick started to stand up after him.

Wally insisted he stay with a simple hand motion, which he easily followed, before he managed to draw out what he wanted from the water. It started out as a temporary green flash beneath the waves, quickly breaching the water's surface with an appearance that made Dick grin ear-to-ear.

It was a mermaid; dark hair that near matched the water, wide eyes with swelled pupils, a flattened nose and tightly drawn gills on what could be seen of her neck. Her breasts were easily concealed by the scales that grew over them, randomly scattered up until about her waist where a tail branched off like the fairytales always depicted.

Almost instantly, Dick ignored what Wally had asked and was flying down beside him to draw close to the creature that excitedly raised a colorless webbed finger from the waves to beckon him near. Before he could grow too close though, strong pale arms gripped him around the waist tightly to restrain him from approaching.

"You an idiot?!" the redhead demanded to know with wide eyes, the mermaid's musical cackle seeming to contradict his next statement, "That thing lives on ripping people's faces off! They're evil…"

"Evil?" Dick repeated slowly with a surprised laugh, glancing down at the arms bound tight to his waist, letting his own hands entwine with the dirt smudged digits and unwind them from around him. "It's just a mermaid, after all!"

He couldn't manage an inch closer though, as the stubborn redhead's arms tightly bound themselves around his shoulders, brushing the stab wound as he did, eyes squeezing tight as the 'majestic' sea creature split the water's surface with her deep fangs bore straight for the suddenly raised ankle. A scream of fear broke that cautious smile and quickly launched the ebony to straddle the other like a monkey to a tree. His arms refused to break hold with the freckled neck, a tremor running out along the small frame in horror.

"Evil, " Wally murmured gently into his friend's ear, comfortingly rubbing the thirteen year old's back as he raised them back up to the broken ship's railing where he held him in his lap like a thin doll. "Very... but I had to stop you from using that terrible version of Ariel. I didn't think you'd get close..."

He moved his arms so the frozen wound wasn't being brushed up against and irritated, then pulled the small acrobat as close as he could possibly be. Dick wasn't much for struggling at the moment, his cheek resting on the freckled boys shoulder, unable to forget his image of mermaids being forever ruined.

"I didn't think you were serious... but... why'd you take me out here? To fix my story? That uh... doesn't stop the fact that I'm bleeding out under the ice..." he refused to lift his cheek, arms now held around the redhead's waist with fingers playing idly with the vines on the rugged outfit covering his dirty flesh.

Wally rested his head against the ebony's gently, smiling down at him with a small laugh.

"Nah, there's an Indian tribe around here, and they're good with medicine. I was hoping they could help you, actually," he let his eyes flit about the cove slowly, squinting at a shape developing in the background, "And because Ariel would've eaten her Prince Eric, and Hook too for that matter. And the dog."

Before Dick could retort, Wally was lifting them up from the railing and darting them fast into what might've once been the captain's quarters. He didn't even have time to cry out, a hand gently covering his mouth to keep him quiet as emerald eyes looked up and out the window.

"...mmmh?" the ebony quietly blinked.

Wally helped him to sit up and showed him the pirate's ship approaching in the not so far east, gaining quick speed with each second.

"You're about to meet the legend himself... Hook."

If the ebony had been breathing regularly around the pale hand tightly restraining his lips, he would've choked on air at the statement, leaning forward despite the hold around him to peer through the window at the approaching vessel. The S.S. Arkham seemed to be constructed of pure iron, a statue of a person rather than a mermaid fastened to the front, the sails regular white bearing a black tint with a madly grinning skull pressed to the center of it. As it cut through the navy waves, they almost seemed to part with a pale scarlet tint.

He didn't hesitate to lean back into the redhead's hold, hiding lightly by shielding his eyes from the massive ship. Silently, he glanced up into the twinkling emerald eyes, wondering what they knew to look so smug as they did now.

"Didn't think he was real, did you?" Wally murmured with the smallest of a smirk.

Dick shook his head, his words muffled by the pale hand until he frustratedly gave up, earning a quiet laugh from the older boy who pulled back his hand.

"Of course I didn't," Dick said again, lips still drawn tight in anger, "He was told to me in the same stories you were."

Before Wally recupped his lips, noticing the ship turning their way, he tensed at the words with the shyest of a smile.

"I… I made it into a story?" his eyes seemed to sparkle hopefully, the amazement of just the thought leaving him the good kind of dizzy.

The ebony tilted his head to the side as he nodded, laughing at the expression. It was so believable! Like a flying boy wouldn't know he was a tale about London! He halted his laugh as the hand unnecessarily recovered his grin, leaning up just enough that he could watch the ship through a small crack in the wall's lining, finding his breath holding too in excitement. Finally, his favorite character of any of his stories would now cross before his eyes! He was all sorts of jittery.

Across the bay, within the ship, a bulky man with a scar slanted over his face emerged from the galley with a girl over his shoulder and a sly grin for his captain.

"We going to do it out here, Cap'n?" he asked, not a single flinch drawing out as the hostage figure relentlessly kicked at his back.

Her cries were muffled by a gag and her arms by the thickly bound ropes around her frame with her lengthy blonde hair thrown out over her face like a mask. This helped her to not notice the green-haired man stalk up to her, wrapping a thick part of her hair around his palm and lightly tugging it. Her shout was more of anger than pain, which only brought out the hysterical cackle the man could easily be identified by.

"My stubborn Princess Artemis," he released her hair, stalking slowly around her and letting his eyes wander out about the cave before he nodded his head, "Such a fitting place for a beautiful young woman."

The blonde raised her head, gray eyes narrowing into thin slits that would serve as excellent daggers if she wasn't restrained like she was. She snarled something provocative at him, but around the gag it lost a high portion of meaning.

"Right. Savage, take her to the underneath. Ivy, help to restrain her. Manta, keep back the mermaids," he called out his order firm and swift, rushing the three called into action.

"Yessir," they all piped in, all in a different sort of tone.

The man holding the princess to his shoulder held a gruff tone of understanding as he hopped the boat's ledge, sketchily landing on a flat of rocks barely a foot from being swept up in the waves. The scantily dressed redhead slid down the mast with skill, a seductive accent of sorts slipping her smile as she gracefully landed beside the man thrice her size. Last to go portside was an amazingly tidy dark-skinned man with the smallest suggestion of a smile, who had a caramel-like tinge to his voice.

Together, they left their giggling captain and pressed the blonde girl _tight_to the granite stones before vines majestically climbed up from out of the water and swept their way around her form, easily undoing the rope from her body. The vines were a lot stronger. There was no fighting them, easily told from the delicious grin to unfold over the red-haired woman's face. She touched a hand to her hip, right above where the open cut skirt rested. The gap between it and her top was enough for her whole stomach to be up for show.

The two men noticed this and clearly enjoyed it, but they both pretended to not notice it as they set to their own jobs. The scarred man collected the rope bits and adjusted the gag carefully, chuckling at the glare he received while Black Manta knelt at the edge and enchanted the sea women with small nonsense words that had them giggling and swooning like fangirls, all the while Artemis snarled darkly at them.

Dick raised his eyes to look up at Wally, eyebrows furrowed worriedly as he pulled the hand down from his lips.

"We have to save her!" he whispered quickly, watching her struggling further and further which only added to his pounding heart's rate.

The redhead's eyes grew wide at the suggestion, silently suggesting the acrobat was insane before he saw the boy was serious.

"Are you kidding? You've been telling these Hook stories longer than I've known him! You know how ruthless he is!"

That didn't seem to faze the ebony, the same look of urgency unfolding over his features.

"You'd want her to do the same if she saw you like that. Come on, she could die!" he practically begged, looking down and smiling encouragingly as he noticed the three adults with her hop back onto the ship. "I can distract them while you save her!"

"You're insane," his friend accused, but he was already climbing to his feet, looking around the room they were in for a sharp object of sorts. "How about _I_do the distracting and _you_save her?"

Dick was obviously set on his plan though, hovering a few feet over the hardwood with a tremble to his hands.

"You said it yourself, Wally: I've been telling these stories longer than you've known him. I have a few tricks up my," he paused, realizing he lacked sleeves now because of the wound to his shoulder, "… Well, I've got a plan. Go save her after I give the signal."

Wally broke a British flag's pole over his leg and slid the cloth off, keeping the point close in hand as he poked the top to ensure it would be sharp enough.

"And that signal would be…?" he turned to ask.

To his surprise, the acrobat was gone from the room already, leaving him to worriedly run circles about while lying low to avoid being seen.

"Wow… and I thought _I_was good," the ginger murmured with a chuckle, admiration cutting over his features before he crept out of the captain's quarters, ears keen now.


	9. Chapter 8

Artemis grit her teeth furiously, curling some of the vines around the back of her palm and pulling at them with all of the strength she could muster, but it was like they were made of steel. That didn't mean she'd stop fighting though, not by any means. For a princess, the restrained blonde was anything but a damsel in distress. She was the one who _caused_the distress, and she'd be damned if she were going to let it be cast out on her.

With a sharp blow, she directed the bits of her hair that had slipped out of the braid from her face, shooting a murderous glare up at the stationed ship before her. They wanted to watch her drown? They might as well watch her escape too then. She twisted her ankles sharply and yanked them upwards, with a high hope that the vines might give way if she made her feet small enough. The bindings just seemed to tighten though, frustratedly making her go slack and glance around.

Maybe there'd be a sharp end jutting out from the rock that would help her even in the _slightest_ to escape? She didn't keep too high of a hope for that, but it didn't stop her from feverishly searching anything within her reach. It was like this rock was manicured specifically for her holding though, turning her gaze to the nearing mermaids with a sigh.

"What are you looking at?" she spat at them, turning up her nose angrily in a hope that they'd back off, but it only seemed to draw them closer with shy little giggles.

Their gills fanned like starving mouths, the unnaturally large pupils to their eyes trained directly on her with that enchanting sort of hunger written over their soaked skin. The milky color showed for a good few feet under the water, careful to not spare any well-sized appendages which the hostage was quick to avoid making eye contact with.

"Scram! Go eat some of the Lost Boys!" she struggled against the vines, their unrelenting stares making her skin crawl in ways it shouldn't have been able to. "Find someone else to chow on!"

She stopped fighting though, eyes growing wide with surprise as a looming and dark sort of laugh echoed throughout the cave and carried off every wall. Gray eyes nervously rose to the wall, gasping at the shadow to emerge, bearing a bat-like figure with the long-tipped parts to its head.

"No... That's... not possible," she murmured, ducking her head to the side nervously, hearing even the mermaids duck down beneath the waves with terrified shrills.

Her father had told her about the legendary 'Bat Man', but she had always assumed it to be a story meant to keep her in the tent at night. Never had she actually believed him, but now she was running through every 'lie' he had ever told her with her breath caught.

"… **Hook**…" the shadow spoke a terrifyingly gravelly voice that carried out to even the deafest of ears.

The people aboard the ship all tensed, running to the side to examine the shadow before turning to their seemingly fearless leader for an order he just couldn't give. He was frozen in shock, his green locks bobbing as he shook his head in horror. This wasn't possible. The Bat Man had been dead for years.

"**I came to finish the job I started**," the shadow grew in size.

Artemis couldn't even manage a shiver before she found a face inches from hers, a muffled scream sounding against her gag until she saw dirty freckles. A Bat Man would definitely not be a ginger. Or that short.

"Warhhyy?" she asked around the gag, earning his temporary gaze before he ran the pointed tip of the object he had in hand quickly over the vines that held her in place.

He moved way too fast for a kid of his stature, but fear did insane things to people and vines as well apparently as the smoke started to flood up from the caused friction until she was free. The blonde dropped with a relieved grin, putting her arms around her hero in celebration.

"Thank you!" she whispered, understanding her need to be quiet.

The redhead bobbed his head with a shy grin of his own before he put his arms around her waist and lifted them both up from the rocks, darting as fast as he could along the ship's lining until he could slip them out of the cave. When the sunlight directly shone on them rather than through holes in the ceiling, Wally set the princess down and peeked his head back in, fists clutched tightly.

"There's no telling when they'll notice you're gone, so I recommend running," he advised carefully, offering her the bladed tip he had used to help her.

She pushed it back into his hands.

"You keep it," she shook her head, already starting to back up, "Souvenir."

And then, she was part of the forest and from sight, leaving Wally to wonder where his friend had to be hiding to pull off such an effective act.


	10. Chapter 9

The creature was a horrifying sight to behold, which is the main reason why no one was there to behold it in its hiding spot between the thick nameless trees where its patchwork and straw skin blended right into the scenery. The stitches to its face looked just like pine needles, and the eyes obviously had to be birds nestling up in the treetops. It was safe, but then again, it never expected anything less of that.

Right now, it was on special order from the captain, a request it couldn't even deny on deathbed. It would never deny a captain's order though, especially one that it would've carried out on its own accord. This task was far too simple for someone of its rank, but it would never complain. It'd rather watch the Lost Boys run around until they reveal the hideout for days then have to be on the ship with that nut job Harley.

* * *

The two held in the laughter until they were a good fifty feet outside of the cave's entrance upon which they both laughed until tears streamed down their cheeks, shrieking happily over the 'fearless' captain and his crew's reaction to a simple shadow and thrown voice. They had never seen a more sissy-ish act in their lives, and neither would trade it in for the world. That image was enough to end their night on a well enough note that they flew right on back to the clearing with the others where Wally decided they were to have dinner and then hear a story.

The sudden uproar the kids threw was heartwarming to the ebony, laughing down at his feet as he landed, tensing as a small hand hesitantly touched to his elbow. He looked up, the rest of the crowd still happily shouting over food and things, only to see the little redhead boy who had hold of the bow that had landed the shot to his arm. The remorse was thick in his face.

"Look… I'm really sorry… please let me hear the story tonight too," he, Roy was it?, pleaded desperately.

Dick felt the warmed bits of his heart break and he found his smile try pressing into a frown, broken between the two.

"Of course you can hear my story… Anyone with that good a shot earns some praise," he raised his good arm and tousled the auburn locks, laughing at the grin to tear across the youthful face.

The kid was quick to dart back into the crowd, but the disappearance just widened the smile over the acrobat's face as he looked out over the mass, attempting to find his brothers.

"Tim? Jason?" he called after a few minutes of staring at the quickly moving blurs with no avail.

With a little encouraging jump, the pixie dust imbedded in his hair lifted him just enough over the crowd that he could scan it looking for that skunk stripe that always stood out like a sore thumb. Instead, the first thing to catch his eye was a small kid bearing a feathered headdress three sizes too big. Curiously, he flew over that way, pausing in surprise as he saw this kid was talking to a man in the trees. Before he could do anything about it though, the kid turned around and thrust up his fists excitedly.

"The chief's inviting us to a big dinner!" Tim's voice left the kid's grin, earning an excited roar from the crowd before those below Dick's bare feet barreled into the tree line.

When they parted, only a smirking Jason and a laughing Wally remained, both looking up at him as he began descending.

"Feeling sore, Grayson?" Jason teased with a playful wink.

Dick rolled his eyes with a small grin before lightly kicking his brother's chest and using it as a push to back flip with style down to the grass below.

"We saved a princess, Todd. Show some respect," he started after Wally, raising an eyebrow at the small little snicker his brother gave off.

"Didn't know that's what they were calling it these days. Creative."


	11. Chapter 10

Under nothing but the moon's plentiful glow and the brilliant radiance that the approaching curious faeries gave off at the intoxicating scents of the prepared feast, Lost Boys and Indians alike crowded around a shoddy made table with make-shift plates full to the brim with questionable looking foods. They smelt good enough for the bare hands to all look past that and eagerly tremble beside their plates as they waited for the okay to eat.

At the head of the table, the tribe leader sat painstakingly still for a long moment before he pulled away his mask and offered a grin to the crowded lines on either side of him. His blonde hair was shortly trimmed and jutted mostly upward, not exactly one's first idea of an Indian, but the dark solemnity to his grin kept them from voicing a word. Beside him, now in a festive deerskin dress, sat Artemis from before with a pleased smile fleeting over her lips.

"Lost boys, new boys and old boys… Leaders, flyers and wreckers… Heads of yellow, red, brown and black… I offer you my thanks for the retrieval of my daughter," his gravelly voice projected out so each one perfectly heard everything he said. "Now… dig in!"

The bright grins didn't need to be asked twice before the laughter and chatter started between chipmunk cheek-fills of bites, the faeries twinkling merrily as they would occasionally dart in and steal a small piece off of the potatoes or the meat that attracted their attention.

The blushing faces and sparkling eyes added to the majesty of the scene, not a dull heart or frown in the area within anyone's sight. The thoughts of fear, pain and anything else that might halt a smile were pushed far from peripherals, nothing but the happiness splaying greatly in their gazes.

With the happiness censoring their eyes, there wasn't a soul to notice the figure coinciding with the trees nearly a mile off step out onto the grass with a tall stretched smile. All was going according to plan.

* * *

"You live in a hill," Dick stared incredulously at where the Lost Boys were piling into, arms folding over his chest firmly.

He seemed to be the only one who had a problem with that fact though, Tim and Jason merged with the crowd in an excited rush to get inside. Every kid going in had a bulging belly and sleepy eyes, every one of them ready to curl up and drift off to prep for tomorrow's battles and boastings. Better, they were ready to hear a story from the legend himself, all but those related trembling excitedly in their hurry.

"You live in a house," Wally retorted, putting an arm around the acrobat's shoulders and looking down at him with raised eyebrows and a small smile, "What's the difference?"

Navy eyes flit from the contact to those bright emerald eyes with a sheepish smile as he let himself slowly be led inside, though he still wasn't comfortable with it.

"There's… no walls, no windows…." he began to argue, but he shut himself up as the door closed behind them.

The dirt of the walls was hollowed to a flat edge so the interior was only slightly rounded but the walls stood a good vertical height. Shelves, tables and seats were carved out of the wall bits and jutted out to a professional looking point. On them rested various things, from plates of unfinished food to a selection of children's toys that obviously hadn't been theirs to begin with from the names scrawled unevenly up the sides. Make-shift beds covered the room's back in front of a fireplace that was beginning to glow with one kid's encouragement of ragged blankets and hole-filled pillows that must've been stolen too.

Thousands of names were carved into the wall, handprints covering near as much from kids' names who seemed so much older that they hadn't been used in centuries. The handwriting ranged from all kinds of awful to nice, not one having smudged out. In fact, the walls were the cleanest part if you were to factor out that they were made of dirt and just consider how protected they seemed to be. All the clutter and destruction, which wasn't much to begin with, was clear off from the walls.

"Those are all of the Lost Boys I've had over the years. Some took the name a little too literal, and others grew homesick… but I could read you off every name on these walls without looking," Wally nostalgically smiled when he caught where Dick's eyes were going, "Now, I do believe you promised us a story, Prop."

A thousand adventures, Dick thought to himself as he looked over the names once more on his walk between people to the front of the fire that bore a suddenly procured stool which was obviously intended for his use. He wasn't the first person to pass through here to make their own story, he realized, but he had known this from the second he had seen Wally's wide smile. It held so much kindness, a bit too much for someone alone. No, this boy had the biggest family the world could ever be faced with, and he never thought less of any of them, Megan included.

From the looks that had crossed the Lost Boys faces, he was quick to assume the faerie had been great family, and one just… one didn't give up family. That was off limits. To be valued that much higher than a deeper rank of the family was the biggest kind of honor, even more so than the one the sparkling eyes offered him as all those kids looked in awe up at him. They all had arranged themselves, the fighting subsided, so they could all alike hear his stories. He shyly smiled down at his knees, crossing his ankles as he sat on the stool.

"Is there… is there any particular story you'd like tonight?" he asked, the quiet a bit overwhelming.

Tim and Jason alike beamed up at him, almost with pride, and that alone was enough to make his head spin for a second. His family wasn't fighting for once. The waters were still. This would take some getting used to.

"Cinderella!" a timid voice called out.

"Red Riding Hood!" someone else gained courage and suggested.

"Jack and the beanstalk!"

"Hunchback of Notre Dame!"

"Alice in Wonderland!"

"Three little pigs!"

The titles never seemed to halt until Wally stood up and walked down the pathway they parted to create, the silence following him even after he took a seat beside the storyteller and turned up his gaze with encouragement reflecting out over the freckles.

"Why don't you retry the Little Mermaid, now that you know about 'em?" the redhead suggested, keeping his voice calm and quiet as to not disturb the peace.

Dick tensed before he grinned with a curt nod, looking out over his audience to see if they approved. The sparkles hadn't dimmed in the slightest.

"Alright, the Little Mermaid then," he agreed, putting his hands to his knees and staring up at the dirt ceiling for maybe a minute as the cogs fell right into place.

Little by little, the story came together in his mind as if it were that last piece in the Jenga tower that held it up, each piece crumpling down to the surface of his mind. The light bulb that went off above his head upon collapse burnt brighter than the fire beside him, a small cackle parting his lips as he rose his hands and began unraveling his thoughts.

"The sea waves couldn't have been any more inviting at that hour of the night to the well-proclaimed Prince Eric as he untied his small rowboat from the dock with a whistle for his fur ball of a dog to come join him. They beckoned his name like that forbidden mistress, stroking at his stubble with a trill to their call, one so brilliant it drowned out his father's best advising against this plan. The prince was well aware of the dangers out abound this ocean, but he knew going a few hundred meters off land couldn't be too bad on his health. Besides, he had his fearless dog to protect him, right?"

Already, every kid was leaning forward on their hands, cupping their faces and grinning excitedly up at the story teller. Wally was leaning against the chair, his head to the side of the ebony's thigh with a satisfied grin, folding his arms over his stomach.

"With one of his famously charming laughs, he accused his father of worrying like a woman and took the oars to the still of the water, calling out his goodbyes. As the king turned on heel, he was already writing up burial plans for his heir and his kingdom alike. 'Mermaids are the least of my worries,' Eric grinned to his dog who just panted, her tongue hanging out over her seemingly endless coat. 'My concerns rest with who I am to wed in the upcoming months.' He wasn't a man fond of commitment, let alone accountability."

"The women were beautiful, but he just had no concerns with marriage quite yet. He had his whole life to find a beautiful betrothed to call his own, and he wasn't far enough along to be worrying about anything like that. He'd much prefer to be alone with his faithful companion out on the still of his ocean, the two alone with their thoughts. Far enough beneath for them to not notice though lay a creature that ensured he'd never have to busy himself worrying about a betrothed. Its body curved against the water gracefully, gills fanning hungrily as it eyed its next meal…"


	12. Chapter 11

One day in Neverland turned to weeks, each day spent as one of the best, the laughter and grins never seeming to end. The roughhousing was well-balanced with exploring the seemingly endless island and visiting the Indians for parties of sorts that seemed to never quite lay to rest until the moon was at its highest and everyone was yawning. They would all retreat back to the hill where Dick would tell them a new story every night, finishing with each frame collapsed and snoring gratefully, his own head settling on top of the red-haired one touching to his shoulder.

All memories of the Wayne manor seemed to have been abandoned in the dirt with the names all three soon wrote into the wall, pressing their hands to the side of their signatures with big grins. Jason had never been happier, now that he had an endless amount of kids with as much violence appreciation as he, and Tim now had kids his age to pay attention to him and play with him. Dick couldn't recall a time he had felt this close to someone in a long time when he was with his new friend.

Spars were taught with wooden swords, flight was perfected with pixie dust, stories were traded with laughter and all sorts of memories were formed over the four months that began to stretch over before any of the Wayne wards came to realize they had a life outside of this dream. Not one wanted to mention it to another, in fear of sounding like they didn't love this island as much as they did, but it plagued them all until they all confronted each other at once.

"… Do you think Bruce is okay?" Dick was the first to break, rubbing his neck hesitantly, glancing around to make sure Wally wasn't around to hear him.

"Of course he is," Jason said a bit too abruptly for comfort, "I'm more… concerned with Alfred. That old man was near enough to the end of his rope when we left. You think he croaked or some shit like that?"

Tim's eyes welled with tears, "N-no! Alfred wouldn't just die! He's… he wouldn't. What about Babs? Think she misses us?"

"No more than Wayne would," the skunk-striped one bitterly remarked, eyes narrowed, "I bet he's _happy_that we're gone. It's not like he was ever home anyway."

"He would've tossed us out if he had wanted us gone, Jason. He has that kind of money. We stayed because he cares about us," the oldest argued.

"We stayed because tossing out a few orphans would be bad on his rep."

"He… he loves us… He told me," Tim murmured quietly.

"Yeah, well _sorry,_Timmy, but adults lie," Jason snapped.

"And so do kids!" Dick tossed back, whapping the back of his head for a comment like that, "Maybe we should… maybe we should go back and at least check on him."

"For what? He probably closed the window that night."

"Because he's _family_."

The two glared harshly at each other, gazes unrelenting until they head a quiet cough, both turning in surprise to see a confused Wally with a tilted head looking between them.

"… Who's… family?" he furrowed his eyebrows curiously.

The two ebonies reluctantly looked at each other, neither wanting to explain, but Tim mustered up some courage and stepped between them with a puffed up chest.

"We were just talking about our dad. He probably misses us a lot and we wanted to know if he was okay," the youngest bravely explained, hands balled into fists.

The words took to Wally like a punch to the gut, but he managed to hold strong and continue standing as tall as he could manage, forcing a small smile.

"We can go look tonight… if you'd like," he offered, the first few syllables breathless as he found his organs weighted by the sudden knot that tore through them to his stomach. "You should've mentioned something earlier. I didn't know you guys weren't-…"

Dick pushed past Tim quickly and hugged the crestfallen redhead, returning the breath by forcing it out as a gasp, the smile gaining a bit of truth at the contact.

"We're happy here," the ebony read his friend's mind with a reassuring laugh as he pulled back, holding the emerald gaze, "Trust me. Living here is like a dream. Bruce just saved us from lives that wouldn't have been all too pleasant for us and we owe him our lives. It'd be nice for us to tell him that we aren't dead."

Wally nodded with a reassured grin, rubbing his neck to ease of the tension that had begun to build.

"That's a relief," he looked out over them once, looking at how they seemed to practically glow with happiness, "We'll head out after dinner."

* * *

The sun couldn't have set any faster for the three ebonies, almost as if their time was fast-forwarded to the point dinner was finished and the Lost Boys were piling into the hill with sleepy smiles and calm chatter for once. This was when they were finally at peace with each other, a beautiful sight now that the fists had stopped throwing and the yelling had completely subsided, arms around each other and quiet laughter accompanying each grin. Dick watched each kid walk in, faces showing how eager they were to hear the story he had to offer for tonight, his heart aching until he felt a tender hand touch to his bicep. He nearly jumped out of his skin, untensing as he recognized the freckled hand behind the contact.

"Ease up, Dick," Wally urged with a smile, lightly pulling back his hand and smiling at his friend, "We'll be right back. You guys just wait out here while I tell them there won't be a story tonight."

Before the redhead could enter the doorway, the ebony darted out his hand and caught him quickly by the wrist which brought Wally to turn back around in surprise with a raised eyebrow, the emerald eyes resting on the ebony's hand.

"I just... I just wanted to thank you, Wally," Dick quietly said, his smile wobbly as he pulled his hand back with a little laugh, "For everything you've done."

Wally's eyebrows furrowed deeply, his lips parting in thought as he stepped closer and out of view from the Lost Boys inside. The crease in his forehead deepened as the acrobat's arms slowly went around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug that he returned nonetheless.

"What are you thanking me for? The adventure isn't over yet," the boy laughed, but the fear was evident harsh in his tone.

He tried to pull back first, but the shorter boy beneath him refused to let go for a few more seconds when the point was given to him and he knew he was making it a little weird. The wobbly smile gained some support and the ebony rubbed his neck.

"I know," he said slowly, watching the redhead's hesitant smile, "but I... This is any kid's dream come true... and I'm _really_happy that I got to have it, especially... with you... There's something... something I actually wanted to tell you..."

The blush that settled over his cheeks was just barely evident in the thin moonlight, but even if colors were out of the question, the look that dusted over his navy eyes should've given him away. Wally was as oblivious as they came though, his heart stopping as he feared the worst. Dick was going to tell him that they wanted to go home and stay there, to leave him here like everyone else always did. He couldn't bear to hear it. His smile halted, the pain in his eyes as he nodded, running his hand down his friend's forearm until he grabbed his hand gently.

"Tell me when I come back, alright? We can talk about it on your flight home," he forced his smile, squeezing those gentle fingers before releasing them and darting inside.

Dick's grin faltered and his shoulders slumped a little as the redhead disappeared, rubbing his neck tenderly and sighing. Should he tell Wally that he had a crush on him? What if he didn't feel the same? The adventure wouldn't change, but that would make Dick into a Captain Hook to the point he was piloting his own ship and kidnapping princesses for amusement. Unlike Hook though, he wouldn't have a stellar crew or a beautiful first mate to love him. He'd just be alone in a rowboat with the plastic hat that held all those memories for him.

"The gay a bit too much to handle?" Jason's teasing knocked him out of his trance, causing him to nod accidentally that halted the boy with the skunk-stripe in his tracks. "Well then, don't say I didn't see that coming."

The oldest among them went to snap that he hadn't been paying attention when the question had been asked, but his attention was quickly diverted when a part of the forest surged out and snatched Tim. He let out a cry of surprise, instinctually running for the entrance to the hill when a bright puff of purple smoke drowned out the air around him and immediately knocked him to his feet with nothing but a final desperate gasp for air with Jason collapsing beside him. Then, as silence fell with them, the forest reached out and slowly dragged them both into the foliage.

When Wally emerged minutes later, he froze in the doorway with a broken heart dropping to his feet. They had left him there, and they hadn't even said goodbye. The worst kind of tears welled in his eyes and he stared up at the crescent moon, as if he were accusing _it_of taking his friends off into the night; especially the oldest one. He had felt... something else... for that boy. He was more than just a fantastic story teller. He was more than just a Lost Boy. He was... well... Dick, and that's what made him as perfect as he was. And now he was gone. He swallowed hard before he scrubbed at his eyes and stepped back inside solemnly.

Nearly seconds later, the Lost Boys poured out of the hill's entrance with the rage written hard into their features, flying quick up into the cold night air and taking off fast enough for the trees to sway at their combined speed, a battle cry unanimously pouring from their open lips. They were going to take that Flying Grayson down for real this time.


	13. Chapter 12

The three boys were thrown to the deck of the S.S. Arkham without mercy, but the drugs surging through their systems were enough to keep them conked out for another few hours no matter what they went through. The smallest one skidded to where he curled into a small ball, hair falling out over his unconscious pout and giving him the threatening appearance of a newborn baby kitten. The one with the white in his hair landed on his chest, or more specifically his chin. It rested to the deck and lifted his closed eyes as if it were being pulled up to stay that way. The tallest sprawled out in a suggestive manner, arms sprawled and legs spread with his chin jutting upwards.

"… and these would be?" the Joker slowly stepped out from his quarters at the thud, surveying the children at his feet.

His captain's hat was nowhere to be seen, just the untamed jade hair messily jutting everywhere it wasn't supposed to be and the sleepless eyes always painstakingly wide illuminated like the white of his cheeks in the thin accent of moonlight. For now, this was just the Joker, not Captain Hook, complete to the purple jacket thrown over his regular apparel. His eyes flitted upwards slowly, his grin widening as he recognized the man of stitch and straw standing on the opposite side of them.

"Scarecrow! So… these are the boys that will help me to wound West?" he cautiously confirmed, walking up to the kitten-like one and nudging him with the toe of his boot.

The head lolled so it was it was facing skyward, no change in the youngest face. The captain frowned down at this one, walking past him easily.

"What did that kid see in them?" he asked himself mostly, for he was his best companion.

Why seek romance when you could talk to yourself all day? Sure, there'd be arguments, but weren't there always? And with all the time in the world, you could work out these problems and be negotiable about it. Sometimes worse came to worse and he would have to throw a punch, but in the end, he always learnt his lesson with an amused cackle.

"The West boy seemed most interested in the oldest boy. I do believe them to be… mates," the cross-stitch monster slowly decided, his voice like sandpaper with small diamonds engraved into it running over a blackboard. "Lure him here and destroy that child. He will surely break."

The Joker nodded, only half listening as he knelt in front of the child with the white streak in his hair, cocking his head as he examined this one closely. There was something about this kid he kind of liked. He reached a hand down and slowly curled a gloved hand around that snow patch, pulling it sharply enough to jerk up the tan face up from the wooden deck. The kid didn't stir, though a shadow cast out over his lips and gave the impression of a scowl. The smile that crossed the Joker's lips was different than before.

"Can we destroy the other two, for giggles?" he asked the monster, before remembering his position on the crew and uprighting himself, dropping the kid's jaw back down to the deck, "Of course we can, Captain. Now, go fetch me Savage. I'm feeling rather fond of him tonight. You go assure that West will venture this way."

The Scarecrow bowed its horrifying head, stitch-work mouth opening to a grin of sorts before he stalked back off into the darkness and followed the shadows like the nightmare he was.

Only once he was gone did the Joker shiver swiftly, doing a shake like a wet dog from his head to his toes as if to ease off the heebie-jeebies.

"Don't like that one," he murmured, rubbing his neck with a nervous laugh, "Kinda scares me… and _I'm _the clown..!"

* * *

Wally finally turned himself away from the trio's handprints on the wall with a wobbly breath, running the dirty back of his hand to the underneath of his eyes. Why did _they _have to be any different? Why did it have to hurt _this _bad? Wasn't that a part of life? Losing people? Well he lost some. He didn't really feel like living much more after it. What was the point of living if you just keep losing people? It didn't seem fair. No, it _wasn't _fair. That's what made it life.

He stared over at the fire, eyes heavy and dark as he set a tender hand over his heart. He could remember only once that it had hurt this bad, but that was in the beginning of Neverland. Coming home and seeing that closed window… he had thought nothing could wound him that bad again. And at first, he didn't get why he was wounded that bad again.

It wasn't until he had thrown a toy train and a man with an S on his chest furiously into the fire with an inhumane scream of nothing but pain that he started to get an idea. The thought was dusting along the tip of his tongue, teasing and taunting him, probing him to chuck a plate into the flames too, the shatter forcing him to throw his arms up over his eyes for protection. What was it? Why were these three strangers so different?

He grabbed the blanket Tim and Jason had used for the past couple of months and thoroughly began tearing the cloth to shreds. Was it because they weren't strangers to him? Was it because he had been watching them tell those stories since before Tim had shown up? Could it have something to do with the fact that he had wanted to be with them for years now, shyly watching through the window until the youngest one had given sign of him? Was his secret being blown that final little hook for him?

The shreds were tossed into the fire and swallowed whole by the starving flames, slowly darkening little-by-little as those starving tongues licked out at the food they were offered. It wasn't the stories that had brought him back every night. It was Dick, even before he related a name to a face. The way that kid had taken care of the two new strangers to his life, even after he spent every night for months sobbing himself to sleep over books of the Brothers Grimm and related authors, it was transfixing. Heart-capturing, for lack of better word. There weren't words that described the faeries that kicked up as he had spent all those nights imagining that big older brother loving him like he loved the two strangers, offering him a home where he would always be accepted.

The redhead set his hand over the print Dick had left in the wall, another tear skimming down his freckled cheek before he pulled it back and rubbed his eyes one last time. He had to let it go. He would never be accepted, and he just had to face it. He was a _freak_. A nobody. He didn't belong anywhere, except for here, a land that never should have existed in the first place. This way, no one could look for him, and no one especially could find him. Not only was he safe from the world, but the world was safe from him.

Then, a small twinkling. It was a beautiful chime, but so full of desperation and fear that in a moment's notice, it was a clashing of discordant keys that only hurt his head. He had never been more overjoyed to hear such travesty in his life. More than happily, he threw open the door and let his faerie back in, slamming it behind her.

"M… Megan," he murmured her name, and she murmured his as they looked at each other for the longest time without any other word.

The tears started again and Wally's chin began to tremble, a quiet sob starting in his throat. Almost instantly, the faerie grew to the point she was about his height, that golden glow still lapping at every inch of her flesh, before she pulled him in for a tight embrace. He more than eagerly wrapped his arms around her, sobbing hard onto her shoulder as she rubbed his back.

It should've been apologies he was offering her. Condolences and sorry's all waited their turn in line patiently, twiddling their thumbs and checking their watches, but not one was going to be said. There wasn't one appropriate enough in his vocabulary. Instead, he just cried there in her arms, and she understood because she knew him better than anyone else ever could.

"Wally… He's…"

She wanted to tell him so bad that Dick was still alive, that he could still save him so all those god-awful tears would stop falling and he'd go back to smiling, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew him, so she knew how much he loved that brat, and she couldn't let that happen. Humans would just continue to break his fragile heart. He needed someone he could trust.

"He's gone… You have to move on… so… let's go down to the Indians… Artemis sure seemed to take a liking to you… maybe she can cheer you up?" the red-haired faerie offered with the kindest of smiles, rubbing some pixie dust unconsciously into his back, nuzzling his hair like a cat might do his owner when he was feeling generous.

Wally pushed the faerie girl off of him, rubbing at his eyes sorely.

"M… maybe later… I-I need some time to clear my head," he opened the door and stared up at the moon with a haunted look on his face, "I'm going to go fly around for a bit. Be back."

He didn't move though, that same darkness etched into his features as his eyebrows only furrowed deeper, his hands trembling at his side. Megan watched him silently, before stepping closer.

"Well…?" she tilted her head to the side, wondering why he had stopped.

The ginger turned his head and looked down at her so she could even possibly _see _how bad he hurt, the side of his face previously having been turned from her still streaming with silent tears.

"I… I can't think of any happy thoughts," he whispered, his chin trembling again.

The words were like a punch to the faerie's gut as she gasped in pain, a stagger to her step as she approached him again and hugged him as tight as she could manage before shrinking back to her regular size with a shuddery breath.

She flew in close and pecked the furrow of his brow before zooming back and looking into one of his eyes, "Just because those in them aren't around anymore doesn't mean the memories should mean any less."

Wally didn't look assured, but he nodded anyway, wiping at his eyes and closing them firmly. It took him a moment, but before long he was shakily rising up into the darkness and drifting over the trees with nothing but that pain he felt inside dripping out onto his freckles. Every few seconds, he'd start descending until Megan just couldn't see him anymore.

"He really does love him," she breathed, watching him with tears of her own welling in her amber eyes, holding her interlaced fingers remorsefully at her heart, "… I… He deserves a better faerie than me… Why am I even still here? I abused his trust… Oh…"

A crack of a branch raised her gaze in surprise, a shrill of pure terror splitting her lips as she saw the nightmare emerge from the trees.

"I can help you with that problem," the monster growled out with a cackle.

Before she could even think to fly away, paralyzed by pure terror, a green haze began to slowly form around them that weighted her down like a thick anchor. Once the haze drifted into her system, she felt like she was drowning on water, continuously gasping helplessly for the air she just couldn't reach. With lungs that small though, she only made it seconds before she helplessly collapsed to the grass where she was scooped up by merciless hands.

"Here we go, then… Helped you, and myself," the creature sniggered happily, resting her on the door's sill delicately, "How's that for a story's end?"


	14. Chapter 13

This was his favorite part of the forest, Wally realized as his feet hovered barely inches above the treetops that would occasionally nip at his bare toes. This was where the dark greens faded into a lighter color, like the tide rolling in, and it was beautiful. Well, it had been. Looking now, he couldn't unhear that smirking little acrobat say they looked just like his eyes. A trembling hand touched to the underneath of his eye as he looked at the beauty, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. Why did it help lift him up? How was that a good memory?

_Because he called a part of you beautiful_.

The sigh to shake his lips was enough to turn him around and guide him back to the hill, a familiar pang in his heart as he ghosted along slowly. If someone could find beauty in him, maybe it was proof enough that he wasn't a _complete_failure. Maybe half of one in the least, but not complete. Megan was right. He should just… move on, and maybe go ask Artemis to join the Lost Boys. She had seemed pretty nice, in a total stuck-up jerk way of course. Girls were dumb.

He had barely crossed the border back into the shadow-like trees when Megan's scream cut the chilling silence like a dull knife through bone. He couldn't recall ever having flown faster, the chilly night winds biting mercilessly at his freckled skin almost enough to leave wounds. Those were welcomed with wide arms though, his eyes narrowed through the tears that still refused to completely halt until he skidded to a halt in front of the hill.

The golden glow nestled on the doorsill was fading faster than he could comprehend, heart shattering as he ran through the grass and grasped the dying light tight in his hands, the tears growing heavier as he found himself looking into the unconscious face of his faerie.

"No… Megan," he whispered in disbelief, a tear falling down and striking the skirt of her dress.

She didn't twitch. Rather, the last final ray of light encasing her small form gave a final desperate flicker and she lay colorless in the trembling pale palms. Her red hair lost its sheer brilliance and dulled down to a dusty rose, if even that, and the accented green to her flesh was now barely a white if one could come to consider it that. Even her tiny freckles, the ones only he noticed, were absorbed up with the light she now lost. That wasn't what was urging the tears though. She was already cold.

* * *

Princesses were known for sleeping in towers, sanctioned off from the rest of the world as they 'dutifully awaited their knight in shining armor', but not this one. Artemis was hardly a princess, mere a daughter to the head chief of the tribe, and she definitely didn't sleep in a tower. She slept in her teepee, curled up defensively around her spear with the flaps firmly sewn shut until she felt ready to pop out and enjoy the sun's rays.

Another thing princesses were known for was their tempers, and this was probably the only attribute Artemis shared with those uppity royalties. Her temper was unmatched by any scathe or burn from an open flame, her snap a lot stronger than any brought on by a creature after flesh or meat in the forests. There wasn't a man out there foolish enough to mess with her, especially when she was asleep.

Then again, there had never been a man more foolish than Wally.

The blonde was rudely awakened by a frantic and desperate shaking to her shoulders that threw her out of a rather pleasant dream. The spear tight in her grip was mere seconds from launching into the throat of her disturber, up until she heard the quiet sobs that lined the pleas of that familiar voice. She sat up, eyebrows furrowing, nearly jumping out of her dress to see who she did.

"Wally…?" she murmured, rubbing at her eyes to make sure she was seeing clear.

The redhead still stood there once she pulled her hands away, but one thing changed, and that was the small creature she noticed grasped delicately in his palms. Even though it lacked a glow, she recognized it in a heartbeat.

"What happened to your faerie?"

Refusing to acknowledge the easily spotted tears skimming down his cheeks that looked as raw as a skinned knee, she raised herself to her feet and gingerly lifted the corpse up into her own hold. There wasn't a sign as to what had harmed the beautiful thing, but she knew in an instant who was to blame.

"You tell me," he seemed to pick up on the recognition in her features, scrubbing firmly at his eyes, "She was… she was alive… when I went out to… clear my head and I hear her scream… Was it Hook?"

Artemis nodded slowly, balancing Megan in her left palm and gently stroking along her small stature with deeply knotting eyebrows. The size was heart-breaking, that a creature this important could fit right into her palm without poking over any of the edges.

"Hook has a member on his crew named Scarecrow, and he deals with poisons and gasses. That's how they got me…"

She sat back down on her palate, gesturing with a tilt of her head for the trembling boy to take a seat beside her, which he quickly did. The emerald of his glassy eyes, gorgeous as it was, stayed glued on the corpse she held carefully.

"Can you save her?" his voice was quieter than a breath, enough to make Artemis think he had merely _thought_it, but it rang loud enough for her to hear.

The main reason that was the case was because it split her heart down the middle like a well aimed pickaxe strike. Edges and contents spilt over until she couldn't dare meet his eyes.

"No… I… I hold no… actual abilities. It would take nothing short of a miracle to bring her back."

Hearing that breath hitch so suddenly didn't help the ache in her heart in the slightest, but she never expected it to. If it hadn't caught, only then would she be concerned. The truth always had to hurt; it was how you knew you were still breathing.

With the way the redhead abruptly forced himself to his feet, it would seem breathing wasn't on the top of his concerns for the moment. His fists were drawn tight enough to show how idiotic his plan was, the scars to his cheeks drawing tight as his glare.

"Watch over her then," Wally boldly demanded, drawing back the flaps to her tent quickly.

"Wait!" she called after him, causing him to stop for just a moment to look back at her, "Where are you going?!"

And for a second, if even that long, a small smile darted over his lips.

"I'm going to go find a miracle."


	15. Chapter 14

It was hard to tell whether to cast the blame to the slow taunting click of the captain's boots against the deck as he paced back and forth patiently or the groaning of his brothers tied tight to the two barrels across from him, but either way, Dick came to with a mind-splitting headache and a chest that felt like it was laced with iron.

When he became accustomed to the thought that he was conscious again, and able to breathe which was a fantastic talent by the way, he desperately looked around in strong confusion as the pieces started to slowly fit together. A pirate ship, two bound brothers and a smirking man in a pirate hat couldn't lead to much else.

"Hook," the ebony lifted his head and snarled, navy eyes narrowing to thin slits as the man halted in step and turned around with an amused sort of chuckle. "Let us go!"

As the captain neared though, that sheer confidence the acrobat held that they'd escape this alive dissolved quickly at first close-up sight he had at the captain. He had imagined a tall man, Caucasian with a well trimmed goatee and dark curly locks, not to mention a time appropriate set of robes to him. This… monster… in front of him left him with chills.

The face alone was horrifying, aged far beyond years could count with muscles and veins clearly illuminated with the help of the powdery substance giving the features a white casting. His eyes couldn't seem to be any wider, but it looked natural like that, an insane sort of twist accompanying the highly raised eyebrows. It was the grin that truly averted Dick's eyes though. Not only was it stretched high, but it was _carved _into those white powdered cheeks and sewn tightly shut.

The hair matched tint with the seaweed swaying back and forth with the help of the waves, the suit of sorts a brilliant kind of purple that gracefully skimmed the water's top with aid of the shadow and moon topping the navy. The boots, and the sword that naturally hung in its holster, were the only two pieces aside from the hat that were authenticate in a pirate's appearance.

"And _you're _going to make me?" the man leaned close, tracing the side of his hand against the flat of the kid's jaw with a small smirk. "You can't even capture me in _character_! How do you expect to do so in battle?"

Dick's eyebrows furrowed and he spared a worried glance over at his brothers, relieved to find both were okay aside from extreme frustration. They squirmed furiously under the ropes that held them in place, pausing a moment to force an expression that completely assured him and also urged him to find a way out of this mess. The only thing he could think to do was stall though. Surely Wally was looking for them.

"Don't tell me you're a critic of my stories too," the ebony trembled as he made himself smirk.

When the captain stepped close again, breath smelling of strong rum, he dug his heels as hard as he could into the deck and tried to scramble away. In maybe a minute's worth of desperate struggling, he made it maybe two inches back at most. The contents of the barrel he was bound to shifted noisily around, probably cannon balls. He wouldn't be surprised if they were human heads though.

"Critic? No, I'm quite fond of them. I was actually hoping that after this big ordeal, you'd come aboard and be _our _storyteller," the jadette straightened, giving his best version of a dashing smile.

The only dashing attribute it held was the one that made Dick jump hard enough to think he slipped his skin and could easily just run off out of the bindings.

"I just have some tips is all, stop squirming…" the ebony froze when the side of the previously resting blade scraped the side of his throat, "There, not so hard now, is it? … now… as for those tips… you always have the good guy die, and I've never been too fond of that…"

The navy eyes trembled as they watched the sword, the cold of the iron sending goosebumps on every square inch of skin he could manage them. Even swallowing was a terrifying thing because he was afraid the movement of his neck would cause the metal to cut through the skin.

"The… g-good guy… always… wins," he breathed quietly, trying to press himself back as far as he could against the barrel.

The captain raised an eyebrow with a small chuckle, turning his sword and running the tip delicately against the boy's jaw now. It was so defined, so easy to trace, so easy to torture.

"So naïve… but all children are nowadays… No, you always kill me off. Be it guillotine or my girl instead… I've been shot, stabbed and my heart's been broken. As if I haven't been through enough…" his grin faded down to the smallest of a smile, if one were to ignore the effects cast out by the deep scars imbedded to his cheeks. "Do you know why some call me Hook, boy?"

Still trembling, Dick traced down to the man's hands, shocked to find that both were still cleanly attached without a stitch or seam in sight. Afraid to open his mouth and say anything, he slowly and stiffly shook his head, a small whimper on the back of his throat. A small nick marked maybe an inch out from his ear, a trickle of blood inching down his cheek like the tears he refused to let show. The captain giggled excitedly, pulling back his sword and starting to pace.

"You see, I used to be what you'd consider a good guy. I had a wife, two sons and a small house out in the country. We had a farm and we were all so happy," he forced the biggest and most horrifying grin anyone aboard had ever seen, "But when the depression hit, I couldn't afford to stay on the farm. My boys loved it though, and I had promised my wife I'd take care of them all, so I went to a couple of loan sharks and took out enough to keep the farm running until I could pay them back."

"But… they wanted interest for the time I had spent… and I couldn't afford it. Not only did they murder my wife in cold blood, but they made my sons watch before killing them too. They sent me each of their bodies wrapped in Christmas paper and put it under a tree before they burnt down my farm. The bodies were all that were left. Then, they came after me. They tried to kill me, tried to make it hurt… but they only managed to carve a smile into my face."

"They kept laughing, 'Where's that big ole grin, ya Joker?' they all kept asking as they took their hooks deeper… So I ripped out the hooks, grinned as hard as I could and hacked all three of them to death. Afterwards, a man dressed like a bat came for me. He called me insane for seeking revenge on the murders of my loved ones, and even dared to lock me up in a nuthouse. When I escaped… he followed me… so I hacked him to death too. That's when Wally showed up, tried to banish me from his island… We don't get along. But that's okay, because I got my revenge…"

The man finished proudly with a satisfactory sort of tone acting as his bow, turning his masochistic grin down at the trembling boy at his feet. Those navy eyes were wide enough to catalogue, a small giggle parting his grin as he realized he hadn't seen a set that wide before. How amusing! The storyteller left shaking at a story that wasn't of his own make.

"You see, I'm not bad at all," the Joker's grin stretched ear-to-ear, letting his blade trace out the shell of those elephant sized ears now. "I was just written that way…"

Dick arched away from the blade, grinding his teeth together to keep them from chattering, fists drawing as tight as he could possibly force them as he struggled against the bindings again. Written that way or not, he wanted nothing to do with this captain or his facial issues.

"While we're on the topic, why don't we start a new story right now?"

All of the brothers eyes flit to the captain and his smug sort of attitude as he started pacing again, spinning his sword around the back of his hand, a sort of whistle to his laugh as he did so.

"Yes, I like this idea… oh, what should it be about..? A pirate story sounds nice… how about… we set it on a legendary ship… the S.S. Arkham…"

The oldest ebony was the only one to recognize the name as the title of the ship they were aboard now, his eyebrows knotting tightly in confusion as he grew to suspect the worst. They were on a ship with a madman; a mad man seeking revenge that he could never truly exact, and they were waiting on a flying boy to come save them.

"And let's say… the main guy… he's the captain of this ship… and he's well loved by every member of his crew. They treasure him and everything he does, because that's what a crew does… one night though, three… _intruders _sneak onboard this ship with the intent of harming this crew. And isn't it the job of the captain to protect his crew?"

Heart swelling in fear, Dick glanced from Tim to Jason, but they were so innocently confused by the story that they didn't seem to catch on. He beat his heels against the deck, desperate to gain their glances, but they were transfixed by the tale being spun out before him no matter what he did. The dread dug in worse than the blade had, he realized, but no worse than the hopelessness he felt.

"Lucky for the captain though, one of the intruders stopped to inspect an opened barrel on the deck, giving the captain enough time to act and stop them."

No one had the chance to act, because even Dick hadn't seen this plot twist coming. In a single step, grin twisted higher than the glint of the moon against the night sky, the blade that had once been against the back of the Joker's hand was now plunged through Jason's stomach.

"_**NO!**_" Dick roared in nothing but the purest of fear, his eyes swelling to the point he felt his face would rip, lunging forward and bringing the barrel with him.

The wood pressed him harsh into the deck, the withdrawn tears flooding to his eyes as Jason tried desperately to cry out in pain. Instead of a scream though, the only sound he managed to get out was the choking noise he made on the blood he coughed up, eyes squeezing shut in agony. Tim screamed loud enough for him, screaming for his brother and for help, trembling enough beneath his ropes that for a moment, he seemed to be vibrating.

"See? This is how the story should end… with the bad guy dying and the hero surviving on…" the Joker's hysteric laughter bounced about the bay playfully, pure glee running through every ounce of him in each little bounce of a step he offered.

Jason weakly opened his eyes, staring down at the weapon in his stomach, blinking in disbelief as a dark stain of blood tore from his parted lips and landed on the flat of the blade. It censored out the horror that started unfolding over his features from his reflection, as well as all common sense. The skunk-striped boy bucked against it, tearing the hole even bigger and bringing him to cough up another dark gob of blood, scarlet seeping out onto the deck below him slowly with every cussword he tried to get out.

"Ja… Jason…" Dick gasped out, looking up at his younger brother's face.

The boy took a moment before he raised his gaze, his eyes holding a glassy appearance, blood coating his chin from his now scarlet lips. And then, he opened his lips into a grin and quietly laughed until the laughter was consumed with coughing, each rack of his muscular frame tearing the hole in his stomach open wider. The captain stopped his pacing to watch, folding his arms over his chest in amusement with a laugh of his own.

"P… please don't leave us, Jason," Tim choked on the knot forming in his throat, scooting as quick as he could until he was close enough to grab and hold tight to the trembling pale fingers hidden from sight.

Jason lifted his head, doing his best to hide the pain in his features as he squeezed his younger brother's hand _tightly_, bringing his grin back up as he looked from Dick to Tim slowly, the blood seeping from his lips more and more by the second.

"T… old y… ou… I'd… make… a goo… d… baddie… Gray… son…" he gasped out, now holding Tim's hand hard enough for the younger boy to wince, but neither pulled away, "T… ake… g… ood… care… o… of m… y… li… ttle br… other…"

Dick choked on a sob of his own, but he frantically nodded, digging his toes into the deck as he tried to wriggle out of the ropes holding him, never lifting his eyes.

"I will! I promise! You tell… you tell my folks to… wait for me… alright?"

He had been trying so hard not to cry, but there was no stopping it now as he actually found himself seeing his brother in an emotion that wasn't sarcasm, arrogance or anger. This was pain, and he couldn't be any more afraid. Jason just chuckled again, looking over at Tim and smiling the sweetest he ever had, weakly leaning his head over so his forehead touched to the sobbing boy's.

"Love you, Timmy," he mouthed, pressing a weak kiss to the kid's temple and grinning as the kid's nose scrunched up in the disgust he knew his brother had aimed for.

He left a bloody mark to the kid's forehead, one the kid felt and only left him sobbing harder.

"I love you, too Jason! You stupid dummy! You can't just leave me!" Tim screamed desperately, heart breaking as the grip on his hand lightened and Jason coughed harder and harder.

The blood hit the deck between their thighs and splattered, getting their knees drenched. Jason raised his head one last time, shaking at the effort it left him to use.

"Not going to the place… they did… you tell Bruce… I'm sorry," he mouthed slowly.

He took a last staggered breath before immeasurably strong coughing racked his frame and then… he stopped moving. There wasn't a grip left on Tim's hand. There wasn't a gaze still on Dick's. The fought was lost, and the story was over.

"_**JASON**_!" his brothers screamed in agony, their eyes even wider now, tears stilling on the rims of their eyes.

He didn't stir, but the captain did as he walked up and yanked the sword back out with a sickening sort of slurping sound and put it back in its holster with a kind of grin.

"Not the name I had tagged to his face, but I'm not complaining," the man shook his head, droplets of blood marking every step he took, dragging tear-stained gazes with them after the scarlet. "After all, I use 'Joker'!"

Dick turned his face so his forehead pressed to the deck, tears slipping delicately down into the wood as he quietly sobbed down into it, body falling limp under the hold of the ropes. He didn't want to fight it any more. He didn't want any more adventure. He didn't want any more stories. He was done.

"I wouldn't be so ungrateful; after all, that's the last thing you'll ever be using."

The ebony raised his head weakly, heart swelling as he recognized the ginger hovering above the second sail, the sparkles glinting out from under his bare feet. Wally had come to save him, but he didn't want to be saved. He was perfectly content with dying right there under the barrel where Wally didn't seem to notice him.

"Here to save your boyfriend? A little late, my boy," the Joker cackled up at him, seconds before he was knocked from his feet by a rough punch to the jaw.

A swift kick to the stomach helped in forcing the jadette to the floor, a cry of surprise parting his grin and giving Wally time to back out of his range.

"I know. They left me a few hours ago, to go back home. I'm here about Megan," he snarled.

That was enough to encourage Dick to keep his head up, his dead heart plunging a bit deeper after Jason as he realized why they hadn't been saved earlier. Wally thought they had left him without saying goodbye, breaking the promise they had made.

"Wally," he whispered, but the words wouldn't form.

His broken heart rested in his throat and blocked his vocal chords from free willed speaking, nothing but a small whimper coming out.

"Wally!" Tim saw his brother's lips move and repeated, still clinging tightly to the warm hand bound in rope beside him, sobbing quietly as he felt the warmth slowly start to siphon off.

The redhead gasped, turning in surprise. The first person he saw was Tim, shoulders rising in surprise with his eye height before he traced the blood path and trembled at what was left of Jason beside him beneath the blood. It was only by averting his gaze in horror that he saw Dick, wedged beneath the barrel with that dark unmistakable pain in his expression.

Narrowly avoiding a kick from the downed captain, Wally zipped over and tore through the rope that bound his friend with the help of the flagpole bit he had kept with him at all times in the past few months. He dropped it in an instant, grasping desperately at the ebony's face and searching it to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Both gazes searched the other's faces, the betrayal accusation in each standing strong, before Wally pulled back and shot into the air, narrowly avoiding a swing from the captain's bloody sword.

Dick didn't hesitate to pick up the sharp edge and lunge to his living brother's side, untying him as fast as he could saw at the bindings. Tim didn't move though once he was freed. He just sat there and held Jason's hand, quietly sobbing into his elbow now. Jason was the next to be freed, and _he _certainly didn't move, even as Dick embraced him as tight as he could.

Wally looked down at them, relieved to see they hadn't left him but unable to watch them in this kind of pain without his heart aching enough to make his head spin.

"What'd you do to Jason?!" he growled, zipping back down and landing a kick between the man's shoulder blades and making him stagger.

It only angered the captain, causing him to turn his gaze to the two sobbing children hovering over his accomplishment.

"The same thing I'm about to do to your little lover boy," he decided, lunging towards Dick with a ruthless swing.

Wally caught him by the lapels of his jacket and thrust him up into the air, resting him on one of the sails before he zipped back down to his friends. He set a hand to their shoulders, but neither could calm down.

"You're too late," Tim rubbed at his eyes with his unoccupied hand, more blood staining at his torso where he too had clung to his dead brother.

Dick looked at him, almost trying to glare, but he couldn't find anger anywhere inside of him. He just didn't have the strength. He shook his head before weakly standing up and looking Wally straight in the eyes again. His whole front was drenched in his brother's blood.

"I told you… I had something to tell you. Why would I leave before I said it?" the ebony breathed as his knees buckled, grabbing at what he could of Wally in his collapse.

The redhead clung to him like it was the last thing he knew to do, eyebrows knotting and stomach twisting because Dick was _alive _and there and he hadn't left like he had thought. It wasn't too late. He could save them. He still had a chance.

"I'm going to save you, Dick. Tim, Jason, Megan; everyone's going to be okay. I promise…" he rubbed the boy's back, feeling the foreign blood press against his skin but just pulling his friend closer, "When I get you all out of here, _then _you tell me."

The captain had a crew though, a loyal one, who knew when they were needed. Now was a good time if any. The doors to the galley burst open and one by one they filed out, swords of their own drawn and magnificent grins stretching over their lips as they saw how easy this challenge was.

"I don't think we'll make it that far," the ebony hopelessly murmured, releasing the redhead with horrified eyes and stepping back to cover his brothers.


	16. Chapter 15

Sportsmaster nudged the fire with the edge of his staff, eyebrows knotting as he pulled off his mask and laid it to rest by his feet. He didn't say anything for a while, as things usually went, until his staff lay at his feet and he had the attention of the whole tribe rested upon him and his only remaining daughter. Though the blonde-haired man wouldn't admit it, she was the one thing he hadn't ruined in his reign and he was willing to risk as much as he could to keep it that way. Jade had returned to the normal world with her mother decades ago, both probably nearing the last lines of their lives if not dead by now. He wasn't exactly clear on how time worked anymore. It had been too long.

"Tell them what you told me, baby girl," he put a delicate arm around his daughter before he pulled back, knowing she wasn't exactly fond of affection.

Artemis nodded gently, straightening with the faerie's body still delicately cradled in her palms, before a surprising amount of age seeped into her features and set a fire behind her glare, causing the tribe to straighten and focus their gazes. Her father beamed up at her, feeling that raw power and knowing that his people were safe for as long as a member of his blood lasted on.

"Alright men," she snarled out, thankful that the flames blocked out the caring of her hold on her promise, "The Lost Boys' leader is in pursuit of revenge against Hook, and he's outnumbered by an uncounted number of faithful crew members baring swords. He seeks justice for the death of a dear friend, his faerie, and so noble a cause deserves reward!"

She gained the attention of every member there, the interest strong enough to draw in even a few mourning faeries that surrounded the princess like a full-length halo. They all chimed and sang out in a clashing baritone, the righteousness adding to the impact she had.

"That boy saved my life, and I don't like being in debt to someone. I say we cash that in and go save his loincloth from those filthy pirates!"

The cry of agreement the people around her shouted out warmed her heart and pulled her lips up into a satisfaction-drenched smirk.

"Great. Grab your spears. We head out immediately."

Her people darted out, rushing for their weapons as their markings blurred in the fire's light, a foreign tongue lacing each word they uttered. Sportsmaster grinned pleasantly up at his daughter and she blushed softly, turning away from him as she tucked Megan's body delicately into the pocket of her dress she knew wasn't 100% allowed but cleanly ignored.

"Wipe that look off your face, dad, or I'm sending you in alone."

She pointed her spear his way and drew out a chuckle from his lips before his hands lifted up in surrender with his staff clutched in one.

"Yes ma'am," he rolled his eyes before gesturing out with his staff, "Lead the way."

* * *

Wally's narrowed eyes darted out quick across the oncoming crew, from their condescending smirks to the gleaming blades in their fists, before he made a decision quicker than his feet and he ran up behind the two surviving brothers, grabbing them both tight around their waists, drawing out twin squeaks from their lips.

"Happy thoughts?" he quickly asked for some suggestions, eyes wide as they continued darting, guiding the boys back slowly.

Tim and Dick exchanged a glance, both searching their minds like a word search for something that stood out, until they decided it was the oldest who'd be offering.

"The faeries singing us the wedding song on accident in the meadow," he threw out in a breath, putting his arms around the redhead's neck while Tim grasped his chest fearfully, "The uh... Getting to lead the rain dance before it rained with Artemis! Learning to water-skate without drowning! That night we slept out on the wrecked ship! Chasing the seagulls!"

Even after Wally shot up into the air, a grin on his lips, Dick kept listing off until he and his brother were safely set on the mass opposite the Joker's. Wally made sure they were fully seated before he zipped back down and scooped Jason's corpse up, avoiding a mad stab from a man littered with question marks, carrying him up beside them and resting him on the mass. His eyes darted up, still bearing the reddish tint and the scarred cheeks, as he offered a small smile more directed to Dick.

"Don't... don't go anywhere...?" he seemed to practically beg it, fidgeting in the air a few feet out from them.

"I'll wait up here forever for you," Dick blushed shyly, offering him an assuring smile before the redhead flitted off, pulling the color and the smile with him.

The sorrow flooded back in and the ebony reached down, pulling his baby brother up from the mass and clinging tight to him again, throwing his other arm around Tim as he let his walls back down again, trembling as he held tight to his family. The blood had crusted over now, as if it was his own, and it seemed to have no seeable end. All there was around him now was that ugly scarlet, and the quiet sobs he shared with his surviving brother.

* * *

The Joker straightened against the beam that held him up, looking down over his crew as they glared up at the flying glitter boy, his thoughts tossing around as quickly as the redhead outflew the sword swings. The only reason the kid wasn't hit yet was because he was flying, hovering with his pixie dust and all those happy thoughts that only he could hear, a slight blush to his cheeks. He just needed to crush that happiness like the life force of little Jason. He snowballed ideas with himself for a moment, pacing back and forth.

"It's obvious the oldest brat up there's the key... but I can't kill him. If I kill him, I'll just be the target of revenge. Captain Pixie Dust is _not_a flattering title..." he paced back and forth along the beam with amazing balance. "When he showed up thinking that kid skipped town, he was pretty wrecked. Don't think I can just throw him overboard though. Too obvious. And the little brat beside him's got good aim with his feet. Maybe if I can shut him up and get some talking in... I'll just talk Gingey down and take a swing myself. Bring out the darkness without even having to touch the switch. Short the bulb. Love it!"

He paused a moment, letting the blueprints set into stone before he nodded and stepped off into the empty air that escorted him gracefully to the back of his crew where he landed flat on his boots without a stagger. Only did he stagger when his first mate tackled him in a hug, planting a delicate kiss to the start of the scars on his left cheek.

"Mista Jay!" Harley gushed excitedly, holding him around the neck and batting her eyes lovingly at him.

He offered her a sadistic grin that made her positively _swoon_ before he put his arms around her waist and pulled her ear close to his lips, whispering his plan fluidly, only stopping to chuckle as she giggled at the feeling the brushing of his lips to her skin gave her. When he pulled back, he searched her face for understanding.

"Got it?"

She bobbed her head eagerly, eyes sparkling as she popped a foot up behind her, grabbing his lapels and pressing a kiss gently to his smile. Then she ducked his arms and practically bounced over to the pole, shimmying up it like a starving caterpillar until she was hidden by the sails, unable to see the immense pride that swelled out over the captain's face. That was his girl up there, his Harley. He couldn't beam any wider.

Waiting until he was sure she had the job done, he walked to the center of his crew and demanded them all below deck, declaring this to be _his_fight which they all put no protest to and filed off as quickly as they could move. Last to leave was Harley as she dropped down from her position topside, blowing him a kiss with the most suggestive wink she could offer. With a final bounce of her skirt, she was gone and the deck was left to a confused looking Wally and a smug captain.

"You've got me alone, Hook. Give me your best shot!" Wally dared, raising his fists tauntingly because he knew he was out of the man's reach.

The captain did no such thing, in fact turning his back to the kid and walking over to the blood-drenched barrel to sit on it, folding one leg delicately over the other and cupping his knee with patient fingers.

"I just want to speak, for the moment at least. I'll give you my best shot if you'll give me five minutes," he bargained casually, taking a calm breath and watching the redhead hover with that dumb look of confusion written out over his freckles.

It was a split decision, quickly made, but Wally launched himself a little higher and straddled a foot long hook that was obviously intended for tying down the sails in heavy storms or wind, his fingers wrapping around the edge for a bit of leverage.

"Alright, dung face, start talking," he curiously encouraged the captain to go on, leaning back for a moment against the wood of the pole.

He peeked a glance up, his heart skipping a relieved beat as he saw the two sets of bare feet still hanging up off the mass high above. Five minutes, Dick, he assured himself with a small little sway, a sparkle hard on his face.

"And try and keep it short. I promised to take those boys home to see their dad after I beat you and bring back my friends that you killed."

The Joker raised an eyebrow of his own before he gave a chuckle to show how impressed he was, putting both feet flat to the deck and applauding Wally with a slow sort of clap. He stayed stationary atop the barrel though, feeling powerful with someone else's blood under his soles.

"I'm sure, I'm sure," he nodded, folding his hands and unconsciously drumming a circus sort of tune out on his thighs, waiting until the full script fell into his hands before he glanced it over to assure himself this would work.

Wally had a bad feeling about this all, but he figured it appropriate to grant a dying man his last wish. After all, this story had to end happy, right? That's how Dick always told it, and it was the way he loved it. He adjusted on the hook, wrapping his leg around it and putting his foot around his opposite calf to stay balanced without having to stay lost in memories. He was just kind of curious as to what this man could _possibly _want to say to him.

"Did your little Dickling tell you how I got a hold of him and his brothers, by chance?" the pirate started, slowing the beat on his thigh down.


	17. Chapter 16

Wally scrunched up his nose angrily at the nickname, mostly because he hadn't thought of something that adorable, before he shook his head. He easily assumed that the three brothers had been kidnapped from in front of the hill, mostly because Dick had said he wouldn't have left when he had something to say, but he hadn't heard anything to say they hadn't just been swallowed by the ground and the three topside were just clones.

"How cute! He just wanted you to save him!" Wally tensed, eyebrows knotting and knuckles going white at the accusation, "You see, I caught the three when they flew over my ship! They were heading opposite of the Neverland star, so I assumed they planned to take my ship and use it to escape back to their home. I captured them before they could capture me. Merely self-defense you see, especially when the one with white in his hair came at me. I didn't mean to stab him, but I had my own life to think about! I restricted them when they didn't take the hint!"

The redhead stopped listening when he heard they were headed opposite the star, eyebrows drifting upwards as his happiness faded a bit. That wasn't the way out of Neverland, but that would be how they would've tried to escape if they did... He shook his head.

"Tim and Jason might've, but Dick would never leave without telling me goodbye!" Wally argued firmly.

At the smirk the captain gave though, the redhead grew to question that though. The last things Dick had said to him had been confusing him for a while. Not only had the other boy been the first to initiate the hug, but he had thanked him for the adventure. He made it sound like it was over... had it... had it been over for him? Was that thing he was going to say "good bye"? Just the thought left him without heat, gaze losing focus for a moment.

"After I took Jason down and bound the remaining two, all your boy would talk about was how you were... _too late_... I do believe. Only then did he seem to care, after the blood was shed, and he said he fully intended to make you pay. He blamed _you,_of all people, because you're the one who brought him here in the first place. He said as soon as he left, not only was he going to have _my_head, but he was going to bring _yours_back as well!"

Wally's eyebrows knotted. Had Tim just been repeating what Dick had been saying earlier? He was too late? No... No, it couldn't be. There wasn't even the slightest chance of that. Of course not... And Dick wouldn't kill him... he... he wouldn't... he called them friends... but he did say... that it was because of him that he got to have the adventure in the first place... no...

"It's a shame too, you really seemed to like him!" the emerald gaze was glazed again, looking carefully at the captain with his defiance starting to wear away. "Kid kept saying you hovered over him like an ex-girlfriend! He told me that if he died there, he wanted me to make sure that I did the Lost Boys the favor of getting you out of the way. The one thing he wouldn't shut up about though? Your laugh. He said the thing was the most annoying sound he had ever heard. It actually made me laugh, because after I killed his brother, he asked me to put the sword through his ears so he wouldn't have to hear it ever again."

Dick had said he loved that laugh. They had been lying on the top of the cave, equal with the treetops, resting on their backs with the hands nearest each other linked, the other supporting their heads like pillows. They had been counting the stars, tracing the constellations and making up stories about each one when Wally had started laughing at a scenario the ebony had thought up. As he laughed, those eyebrows that were always lighter than the base hair shot up a little, a grin of amazement sliding over the pale lips as his head lolled and they had met gazes. _Wow... I've never heard you laugh like that before... It's... amazing!_And then, he had laughed, squeezing his hand tighter.

Had that all been fake? What was the point of lying about that? Did he want revenge for being stolen from his own life? Did he want the island to himself? Was he secretly working with Hook this whole time? That would explain why he was in almost every story Dick told... It couldn't be though! Dick was his _friend_! He _trusted_him! He told him his life story! Every little secret that even the Lost Boys didn't know, all underneath those stars! Was it all lies?

His face shadowed and he wobbled back and forth on the hook that held him up. The Joker swallowed a smirk, remaining as surprised and grave in tone as he could.

"And so you know, I didn't lay a hand on your faerie. That had to be one of your boys. I'm actually quite fond of those creatures, even though they hate me more than I'm worth. Actually... that makes sense now! Coming in, that little one was really upset because they had killed something, and your Dick was saying something about her not meaning anything. I think he used the phrase 'meaningless bug', when he said he just squished her. I do believe she's responsible for that nasty bite he's got on his shoulder, right?"

A knot swelled in Wally's throat. Megan _had_ordered the hit on him, but Dick had never spoken a bad word out against her. In fact, he didn't say much about faeries, except for that scene out in the meadow. They had been everywhere, and he dared call them fireflies, which he had said were bugs back where he lived. Had he... had he really considered one of Wally's best friends just... just a bug? No... It... Well, he had said it. To make it worse, he had said it to faeries he _hadn't_known. There was no assurance of what he'd say to one he knew. Would he have called her target practice? A meaningless bug sounded more and more likely by the second.

"Another thing though, I happened to see all of your Lost Boys fleeing the scene towards London. Do you think maybe Dick's stories, maybe the ones you didn't hear, gave them the courage they needed to finally leave? I know there wasn't one among them who wanted you as a leader. They all called you pathetic, and said they only let you lead because you were a mess when you didn't get your way. Almost... well, if I didn't know better, I'd say they compared you to a toddler! Even the Indians are wary of you! You're more than just a reckless, no-good mess-up! You're a screw-up too, and a freak to match! What kind of kid gets locked out of his own house?"

Wally wasn't even holding on to the hook now, his face completely sullen, without a single ounce of hope left in it. There wasn't a thing in there he could find himself to argue with because he believed every word of it. His own parents hadn't wanted him. Why would a bunch of strangers? He just caused destruction wherever he went. Everyone would be killed if he got his way. Maybe it was best if he just returned to normal time so he could finally live to his death and do them all the favor. Yes, that sounded nice. Maybe then, everyone would be happy. He could do something right. He slowly slid down the pole, the pull in his features causing even the captain to utter a quiet, "... aw..." in sympathy before he hit the ground.

It was there that he continued sliding until he was just lying on the wood, hopelessly staring up at the stars that seemed to twinkle at everything else but him. Even the man in the moon had gone away. Nobody wanted him around. Why should he bother then? The one thing he did see though, the one thing that had stayed, was Dick who was now struggling lightly against ropes that restrained him to the mass. No wonder he hadn't left. He was being forced to stay. Even Wally's breathing began to slow out of hopelessness.

"Now, now... don't tell me you're not going to fight me?" the Captain rose from his barrel, with a victorious kind of smile.

Wally didn't move, aside from blinking, and he just watched as Dick managed to finally slip the ropes. Good for him. Now he could fly far away, like he wanted. The ebony did fly, but he definitely didn't head upwards. Instead, he jumped down, staggering and falling to his knees as he hit the deck. The Joker tensed at the sight of him, but he just smirked.

"There's nothing you can say now, kid. I fear this is my story, and I'm the good guy. Now play your role and hold still for me," he raised his sword just as Dick raised his hand.

"Wait!" the captain stopped, urging him to continue on, "Let me... let me at least tell him what I was going to before I wound up here."

The Joker met and held his eye for a long moment of held breaths, but he finally nodded, knowing that a dead man's last words definitely couldn't break the depression settled out over the freckled face. Dick seemed to think so too, but it didn't stop him from crawling over to Wally's side and staring down at him. He didn't say anything for the longest time, knowing he had no right to, before he lifted his hand and gently ran it over the partially exposed chest, stopping on the bare shoulder.

He let his eyes run the length of the redhead's body slowly. The outfit, if you could call it that, was basically a toga only with dirty trousers instead of a skirt finish of jade with shrubbery woven in with it to hold together the holes. Beneath all the vines and leaves, old-fashioned sorts of patches were stitched into the fabric, all well concealed beneath the age but there now that Dick bothered to look.

His tan skin was burnt and bruised in obvious places, lining the small ghosts of freckles through what the dirt didn't hide, right up to his face. Barely two feet between them, the navy eyes could count every freckle, but he knew how many there were. He had counted several times before. There were 37, if you counted the two under his chin and the one behind his right ear, and each one was so individually perfect that it left him breathless.

Those emerald eyes, they usually sparkled, but now they were hopeless as they drifted down to meet the navy eyes, tears playing on their rims. The curve of his lips was almost dream-like in its perfection, so tempting but so perfect with every word he'd utter. And then there was that messy auburn hair, more brown than red but red enough for him still be called a redhead because he acted like it. It was short, but so well kept that you'd think he went to a barbershop and then scruffed it up a little.

Then, he held their gazes together, navy on emerald unwavering. Dick had never really intended to say anything, so he was going to make that nothing count. He may or may not have given the ghost of a smile as his fingers curled around Wally's shoulder and he leaned down slowly, keeping his eyes open until his nose delicately brushed the freckled one. In a breath, he fit his lips against Wally's own and he kissed him.

This wasn't just your average run of the mill kiss. This wasn't a peck. This, _this_meant something. This was like the rainbow that comes after the rainstorm that drowns out a city and leaves people without power for days to the point that when they see it, all the damage is forgotten and they can smile peacefully again. This was that first ray of sunshine that a man held in solitude for years saw, his first sight of the outside in too long of a time that brings that disbelieving laugh at how much more beautiful the world is to him now that he can see it again.

This was trudging through miles of briar patches and thorns in your best friend's shorts because your jeans were soaked because you trust them, only to find unimaginable treasure at the end awaiting you and your scars. This was the confession both had been holding back from day one. This was Dick Grayson, the orphaned acrobat boy stolen from Wayne manor, kissing Wally West, the boy only of stories and fiction up until now.

A smile now definitely turning up his lips, Dick parted his lips enough to capture the redhead's gasp and make it count, parting with an iconic 'mwah' sort of sound as he lifted himself up and away, opening his eyes when he couldn't feel the breath from the auburn's nose on his cheeks. Wally hadn't moved, but his face had. Those hopeless eyes had widened and filled with a bright sparkle as those lips slowly stretched up into a grin. And then, it was like he exploded.

Face a dark scarlet from the blush that spilt over those cheeks, Wally gave a holler of the purest delight and shot up into the air like a golden firework, a flash in the dark night air. His laughter rang out as he shot back down and circled Hook in a golden blur of laughter until he was sent to his boots with a cry from how dizzy he had suddenly become. And then, the whole boat was being circled by the golden rocket that was the head of the Lost Boys, the pixie dust trailing out from his path and raining out over the deck.

The sight attracted the tribe coming up over the hill, grins breaking out over all of their faces in wonder before they all dashed forward and one-by-one, found themselves aboard the now _glowing_ship. While the tribesmen filed down below the deck to deal with the crew, Sportsmaster handling the downed captain, Artemis approached the kneeling and blushing ebony on the floor.

"What'd you do to him?" she laughed in wonder, attempting to watch him zip around and stir up the wind that caused her hair to whip about wildly.

With help from her extended hand, Dick stood to his feet and averted his gaze with a quiet laugh.

"I kissed him," he quietly admitted, earning an overjoyed squeak from the princess.

She patted his shoulder and grinned even wider as she saw a flash of that wide grin pressed _hard_into the glowing figure's face as he ran out of pixie dust and simply flew on the faeries buzzing excitedly in his stomach. The suddenly concurred pixie dust was piling up on the deck, pressing itself down into the wood before they found themselves on a golden ship that positively glittered, bringing them both to laugh happily. The laughter jolted as the ship rose up out of the water like a helium balloon, but it resumed in wonder as it ghosted over the treetops, leaving a trail of pixie dust behind it as it made its course over the sky.

Before Dick could say a word, the golden blur halted in front of him with the grin of a six year old just having gotten the puppy they had been begging months for and put a hand to his neck. The ebony was jerked forward and Wally kissed him, clumsily but overjoyed to the point Dick was a melted puddle of goo with the capability to gently move his lips back. This kiss was a bit longer, and returned, but it didn't feel any less exhilarating. It just managed to keep Wally hollering in excitement as he shot back up into the night air, near collapsing the ebony into the princess' arms. When she caught him, a pained gasp came from her pocket before Megan shot out.

She trilled and sang in protest before a grin lit up her golden shining face and she dashed forward, pecking both Artemis and Dick on the forehead. Her chimes grew higher in pitch and just so happy they had a beautiful charm to it, loud enough that it shot Wally down to quickly clutch her to his chest.

"Megan! Megan! You're alive! I'm so sorry, but you're alive! And you're here! Dick kissed me! He did! Really! Think he likes me? I think he does! It felt awesome! Have you ever kissed anyone? I recommend it! Megan!" his voice came out all in one breath, a hurried rush, but she giggled anyway and peppered the bridge of his nose in kisses.

Dick grinned happily up at them, a hand over his heart with a tremble to his fingers.

"Hey, faggot! Get up here!" came a holler from above him, raising his gaze in surprise.

Jason was descending down from the mass with Tim clinging to his stomach like life support, crying happily into his shirt. Dick couldn't fly up any happier, tackling him in the air as he bound his arms around the boy with the skunk-stripe's chest, happily crying out into his shoulder as well.

"You're alive! Thank God!" he trembled, fingers drawing in as much as he could of his brother's shirt, grinning ear-to-ear as he heard the heart thundering inside the boy's chest.

He hadn't heard a more beautiful sound in all his life.


	18. Epilogue

And it was like that that the golden ship took off towards the sharp and shining star in the sky, carrying on until morning where they reached the large of New England, halting on the lawn of a giant mansion marked with a W to the gate. Official goodbyes were said, each one long and personal, up until the farewell kiss Dick and Wally shared before the redhead led the three ebonies up to the front door, his hand entwined with the oldest as he rang the doorbell slowly.

"Was that kiss really what you were going to tell me?" the redhead asked, still holding the tan hand gently in his own with a positive _glow_to his figure.

Dick's grin couldn't possibly grow any wider.

"I don't know… Next time you come back for a visit, I'll tell you," he struck up a deal, leaning forward and pecking the redhead's blush.

Wally laughed happily, "It's a deal."

He lifted his hand from his friend's, slowly backing up as he did. The sound of the bell slowly echoed throughout the house, going on for a long and painful minute before the door opened slowly, as if in disbelief. When it was opened all the way, an old man stood in the doorway, tears forming in his eyes.

_"Master Bruce_!" the tuxedo-bearing man hollered before he launched forward and pulled the three ebonies in tight to his chest, not sparing them room to breathe.

Wally watched them with a small smile before he edged out of sight, discretely getting on board the golden ship and glancing to Artemis with the smallest of a smile. She nodded knowingly and the ship rose up, blasting off towards the faint outline of the star against the morning sky, their laughter serving as their final goodbye.

"What is it, Alfred? You know I'm busy-," a man froze behind the kneeling old one, a gasp breaking his lips as he ran outside and tackled the side Alfred didn't have held, his arms going around the butler as well.

His happiness was expressed strongly by the tremble to his silence before a small laugh split his lips and the boys turned around under their embrace and buried their faces in his shirt.

"We missed you guys," Tim's muffled voice came out over Bruce's heart.

"So much," Dick agreed with a shaky laugh.

There was silence before even Jason nodded, "What they said."

A sunrise and a big breakfast later, Bruce quietly asked where they happened to go. Jason and Tim looked to Dick hopefully who just smiled knowingly.

"Well... we went on an adventure," he said simply, rubbing his neck before taking a small sip of his orange juice.

He leaned back and allowed Alfred to slide another pancake onto his plate, uttering his thanks before scooting back in and watching the butler take his seat, everyone seeming to glow a bit more this morning.

"Why not tell us about it?" the butler inquired casually, taking a bite of his own pancake.

Jason and Tim both leaned forward on their elbows excitedly with Babs, Damian, Alfred and Bruce all seeming to lean in just as eager. Dick suddenly found himself seeing the Lost Boys around him, feeling Wally's head on his leg, and he couldn't help but grin.

"Well, up in the sky, there's countless stars... all so meaningless to those who don't look. But there's one that's a second to the right, and if you follow it straight on 'til morning, you'll find yourself with a story to retell again and again... this one... this one starts when a red-haired boy catches a wayward pirate hat as he listens in on a story..."


End file.
